The Poles of Loving You
by dollopheaddemigodonanadventure
Summary: Who is this angry chick at camp and why has she volunteered to go on this quest with me? Jason and Reyna meet and things don't go so smoothly. So how and when did these two learn to care for each other.
1. Chapter 1

Well I've got a thick skin And an elastic heart But your blade might be too sharp. I'm like a rubber band Until you pull too hard Well I messed up and I moved on. You won't see me fall apart Cause I've got an elastic heart. - _Elastic Heart_ , Sia

 **I'm posting this new story against my better judgment of finishing** ** _Down the Aisle_** **first. But this story came alive in my head this morning and I knew I needed to write it. Be warned: it made me cry.**

 **For those star-crossed lovers, whose destinies seemed intertwined but never joined.**

July 1, 2006, The Barracks

Today sucked. Like worse than the usual amount of suckiness. This whole Titan War has got everyone on edge and I'm also really terrified. Everyone keeps looking at me like I'm going to be the death of them, which I probably am. It's like every birthday they know I'm just getting closer and close to judgement day and every year they just get more and more terrified of me.

I hate being the son of Jupiter. Why couldn't I be the son of, I don't know, Ceres. I'd grow some wheat, some corn, some barley, and everyone would like me. Instead I get to be the son of the biggest, baddest, boldest god, and everyone either expects me to save them or kill them. I hate being the son of Jupiter.

Dakota tried to cheer me by stealing all of Octavian's pins so he had to run around camp holding his toga up. But it kept slipping so we had a nice show of Octavian's boxers. It was funny, for a while. But it doesn't change the fact that Octavian keeps smirking at me like he knows exactly how I'm going to die and he knows it's going to be really painful. Why else would he be smiling at me like I was the greatest gift he's ever gotten? He hates me, I know it.

So another birthday has come and gone and all it brought was more guilt and responsibility. I'm sick of this shit-show. (I'm starting to like cussing, it's liberating).

July 14, 2006, The Barracks

Dakota and I had a desperate plan to save the Fifth Cohort from humiliation during tonight's War Games, but as usual, we ended up looking like the biggest losers in the universe. I love this Cohort but sometimes I really wish they'd start taking training more seriously. We could be great, I know it. They've got so much potential in them, why do they all think they're losers? Maybe because we keep making them feel like losers, all the time.

It sucks that I don't know how to make them feel differently.

September 1, 2016, Livy's apartment

Julia has got to be the sweetest baby sister on earth. I miss Thalia.

September 5, 2016 The Forum

We're watching the fireworks right now. I love fireworks. Why do people love fireworks? What is it about them that makes people ooh and aah even though they've seen them a million times? I asked Dakota and he said I was just overthinking it, as usual. "They're just fireworks. They're nice and loud. So shut up and just enjoy the show."

But then I looked over to my left and this new girl at camp was sitting there, her legs crossed, hands folded on her legs, and her face turned towards the sky. There were tears running down her cheeks and she quickly wiped them away. I looked away before she could see me. I didn't think she'd want me to see that she was crying, and honestly, I was embarrassed. But now I wonder why she's so sad, and why the fireworks made her cry.

September 6, 2016, The Barracks

Today, the new girl surprised me by looking at me. I know that's weird to say, but she actually _looked_ at me. Like she was waiting for me to say something. Maybe she knew I'd seen her crying at the picnic. But then I looked away and when I looked back at her, she was talking to the boy beside her. But now she looked a lot less tense. Maybe she did know and she was afraid I would ask her about it. I'm not. The whole thing just makes me uncomfortable. I have enough problems to worry about. I don't need to worry about everyone.

I snapped the journal shut, loudly, and I was almost tempted to throw it across the room. But I didn't. I only had one place to let myself think what I really thought, so this book, even though it was just a book, was precious. So I just stuffed it back under my mattress, stretched up, turned off the light, and burrowed down under my blankets. Tomorrow would be just as good for worrying about my responsibilities.

But when I woke up the next morning, life just needed to punch me in the face. When I showed up to training, the Third Cohort was there.

"Why are they here?" Dakota grumbled.

"Because legionnaire," Philip said dangerously, "I ordered it." Philip was one of our praetors. He didn't look like much, but he was strong, quick, and intelligent. He made one helluva leader. "The Fifth Cohort, as you may all have noticed, is the shame of this legion." Some members of the Third laughed, and I had to clench my fists to stop from punching one of them. "Perhaps, working with the Third might motivate them to step up to the plate. I'll start with a demonstration. Ramirez!" The new girl's head snapped up. "Yes Praetor Hall?" Jheez, she needed to loosen up. "You're new, let's break you in."

Her jaw clenched and unclenched so fast that if I hadn't been staring at her, I wouldn't have noticed. Then she straightened her shoulders, nodded, and stepped in front of Philip. She looked so tiny, even in comparison to Philip, whose lanky body towered over her.

"Alright Ramirez, try to block me."

That was totally unfair. He hadn't prepped her at all. But she just bent her knees, widened her stance, and put her fists up. Philip started barreling towards her. I knew what he was going to do – try to break her stance and land her on her back. But suddenly she smiled, and when he was close enough, she sidestepped him, tugged his right arm back, swung him around, and pushed him flat on his back. The she put her right knee on his chest, pulled out her dagger and pushed it against his throat. "Dead," she said calmly.

She had stunned everyone into silence. Holy shit. I couldn't believe she'd just done that. She'd only been her for a few days and she already fought like a legion veteran.

Then Philip started laughing. "We'll make a fine warrior out of you Ramirez." She stood up, and he followed. "Pair up everyone." Dakota turned towards me. "I meant one person from Fifth pairs up with another from Third. The gods know you all don't need to be fighting each other." Grumbling from the fifth. I hated when the rest of the camp shamed us, it was even worse coming from the praetor who was supposed to be on everyone's side.

Everyone separated and somehow I found myself standing in front of the new girl. I nodded at her and she pulled out her dagger. Without speaking, we started to spar, and before I even knew what was happening, she was standing behind me, both hands around my neck, one pressing the dagger against my throat. She was taller than me, I noticed.

She let go and we started again. She ducked my swings, and came back up with the point of her dagger against my throat. She kept it there for a few seconds and then pulled back. Then she put her dagger away. "Bare hands," she said. The first words she'd ever said to me. I tried a few quick jabs. She ducked them all, landed one in my stomach, spun around, and kicked me in the jaw. I fell to my knees and tasted blood.

"Jesus! Are you even trying?" she asked me irritably. I looked up at her to find her glowering at me. "If you're not going to fight back, you might as well just give me the pleasure of using you as a punching bag instead of falling to your knees like a damsel in distress." That made me angry, I growled and pulled out my gladius, straightening up. She smirked at me.

"Good, you're angry. Use it." I jabbed at her. She spun out of the way, and smacked the hilt of her sword onto my wrist, making me drop it. As I bent to pick it up she said, "It's not a toothpick that you just jab randomly. Think of it as an extension of your arm. Swing it like it's your arm. Trust it the way you trust your body."

"I'm not sure I trust that so much right now." Puberty, after all.

She frowned at me, and stepped really close, so that her face was just an inch away from mine. "Is this some kind of joke to you? We're in the middle of a war and we need every soldier we can get to fight. If we have to rely on you to help us win, we're all going to die."

I'd had enough berating for one day. "Why do you need me if you're so good then?"

"I worked hard to get this good. You're just a lazy, entitled, son of Jupiter. You think you don't have to work for anything!"

I stepped closer to her. "You don't know anything about me. You just got here. I'm not the one who goes around crying at picnics."

She was furious, her eyes burning with rage. She punched me and I pushed her, hard – she fell down. I hadn't expected her to be so light. She was getting to her feet, preparing for another punch, rage burning in every line of her face. How could such a tiny person be so angry? "You stupid, arrogant, weak, no-good piece of shit." She was going to land a hard punch, I could see it. I picked up my gladius. "Try punching me now, cry-baby." She screamed and pulled her fist back but just then Philip came running up and grabbed her, picking her up off the ground. She was kicking furiously, still yelling "I'll get you for that!" He spun around and put her down, turning back to me. She was still trying to get to me, but Philip put his arms out, holding her back.

"Ramirez, enough!" he growled. She glared at him, every part of her body poised in rebuke, but she stood down. "Well we thank you both for that wonderful piece of entertainment. Unfortunately, it was completely tasteless so you'll spend the afternoon washing up dishes after dinner."

I glared at her and she glared back, her fists clenched tightly at her sides.

There went a perfectly good afternoon.

That afternoon we were standing side by side washing dishes. Who knew a couple of Roman demigods could use these many dishes. I was staring to despair that we'd be here all night. And the water was starting to get cold.

But it wasn't nearly as cold as the girl standing beside me. She didn't say a word, just dumping the dishes in the soapy water, scrubbing them, and then handing them to me to rinse.

Finally, I decided to break the silence. "Listen, I'm sorry I pushed you."

"No you're not."

I clenched my jaw. "And I'm sure you're sorry about all those things you said about me."

"Nope."

"Are you at least sorry you punched me?"

"Nope."

"You know this whole exercise is supposed to help us bond or something, not just punish us."

"Not my problem."

"What is your problem then?" I grumbled.

"I don't like you."

That made me pause. Ok, so I wasn't used to not being liked. My whole role at this camp was based upon being liked. People came to you to help them mediate problems if they liked you. And people came to me all the time. It was annoying. "Why not?" I demanded.

"Just cause."

"Excuse me? That's not an actual reason."

"I don't owe you any explanations."

I guess she didn't.

"Well I'm sorry I called you a crybaby. Honestly it was none of my business." She didn't respond, just handed me another scrubbed plate. After a few minutes of silence, I finally said, grudgingly, "You fight good."

"Well."

"What?"

"You fight well. Not good, well."

"Well thank you Miss," I said sarcastically.

She nodded. She went back to scrubbing the plates, but something was different now. Her shoulders were less tense, and she seemed less hostile. So I ventured, "You know I don't actually know what your name is."

She didn't say anything for a while. Then finally, "Reyna. My name is Reyna."

I thought about that. "Like Queen?"

She nodded stiffly.

I smiled. "Maybe one day you'll be Praetor," I said conspiratorially.

She looked at me. I thought she'd meant to glare at me, but below that, her look was frantic, and desperate. "I never want to be praetor," she whispered. "Never," she said more firmly.

I frowned at her. "That's weird."

"For you. You're the prodigal son."

I rolled me eyes. "Again, with the labelling. I told you, you don't know me."

"I know enough. You're the hero that's going to save us all. Our Saving _Grace_. You're the child of the most powerful god and everyone loves you and looks up to you."

She was handing me another plate, and I yanked it out of her hands. It slipped and fell, crashing into a million pieces on the floor.

She rolled her eyes at me. "Great, now we have to clean that up as well." She rinsed her hands and collected the broom from a corner of the kitchen. Whilst she swept up the shards, I scrubbed a few plates.

"Look if it bothers you so much, I'm sorry," she said, from behind me.

"No you're not," I growled.

"Maybe I am. I get it. You don't like people expecting so much from you. It's hard to live up to it sometimes. You're terrified you're going to let everyone down."

I kept scrubbing. I didn't want her to know that she was right. She finally stepped back next to me, and dunked her hands into the soapy water. "It won't go away you know. People won't stop expecting things from you." It was weird what she was saying. Her voice was high and a little squeaky. But her words were those of an older person. Somehow the two just didn't go together. She was so strange. Suddenly I remembered how angry she was earlier. That was also the rage of an older person. How could this little girl possibly be carrying so much around?

We finished the rest of the dishes in silence. By the time we got out of the kitchen, it was dark, and the campers were already beginning to troop off to bed for lights-out.

I turned around to say good-night but she was already out of ear-shot, marching resolutely away to her barracks. Fine, I marched off to bed too.

When I lay down on my bunk, Dakota leaned over the edge of his top-bunk and grinned at me. "Nice show today, you and angry girl." I threw my pillow at him, and he chuckled, disappearing back onto his bunk. Great, now I had to stretch for my pillow.

I was about to turn off my light, when I decided to grab my journal.

September 7, 2006, The Barracks

The new girl is so angry. I think the world has given her too much sadness. I wonder what kind of pain she's carrying around.

Oh, her name is Reyna. Like Queen. Only more regal because it's not in English.

I stuffed the journal away and turned off the light.

The next morning when we showed up to training, there was another surprise waiting for us. Philip was nowhere to be seen, and neither was the Third Cohort. All of them, that is, except Reyna. She was standing beside a training dummy, swinging two batons casually in her hands.

When we were all finally standing in front of her, she said, "Right. From now on, I'll be your new training instructor."

"Says who?" Dakota challenged.

"Says Praetor Hall," she said firmly.

"We don't need a new training instructor. Besides you've only been here for like three days," Bobby argued.

She sighed, like she was already tired of the conversation. "Look, you all suck." More grumbling, but she held up her hand, and surprisingly, most people fell quiet. Praetor material indeed. "You don't need a sucker to teach you. And I'm the only one who volunteered for the job. You need me. So suck it up. If any of you have a problem, you can take it up with Philip. _After_ the lesson." She smacked one of the batons on her left palm. She meant business.

"Right, partner up, and I'll come around and help you with you form. We'll start with basics. Hand-to-hand. You can put all your weapons away."

It was weird that this tiny, twelve year old girl was schooling us, especially since most of the Fifth was older and bigger than her. After a while though, people started warming up to her. She hid all that anger I had seen the previous day. Instead she was encouraging and warm. I wondered how someone could fake it so well. And she was good at what she was doing. By the end of the lesson, most of the Fifth could throw better punches.

"Good lesson everyone. Tomorrow we'll work on staying light on our feet." She picked up her bag, and as she was walking away, I caught her eye, and she nodded at me. I don't know why, but I grinned at her.

Turns out, that wasn't the only surprise of the day. When we got to dinner, our Praetors had an announcement to make. "The time has come for another quest."

The dining hall broke out into low murmuring, but when Philip raised his hand, it fell quiet again.

"There have been rumours that a distance slab created by the Sixth Legion during the building of Hadrian's Wall has been found. If these rumours are true, then we must find it and bring it home. As you all know Hadrian's Wall marked the north-west frontier of the Roman Empire. So why is this slab so important? Well apart from marking the completion of a section of the hall, these slabs were also imbued with protective spells by the Vestal Virgins, strengthened by their blood sacrifice. It was hoped that this magic would protect the empire from the barbarians and the monsters of chaos of the north. It worked. Now one of these slabs has resurfaced. If we can find it, and bring it back, then we could use it to reinforce the borders around New Rome. This is exactly the sort of extra protection we could use right now, with the Titans on the rise."

There were stunned gasps, and expressions of disbelief, of fear, and of hope from the campers. They were terrified. If there was something that could protect them, we needed to bring it back.

Before they could get too loud, Philip continued. "One hero has already been chosen for this quest. As a son of Jupiter, it is only fitting that Jason Grace goes to reclaim his brother's legacy." I had to try very hard from groaning. Would they ever stop expecting so much from me? _It won't go away you know. People won't stop expecting things from you_. Great, now I even heard her voice in my head. Philip was staring at me. I knew he expected me to go up there and act all solemn and pleased that I was given this great honour. I tried my best to fake it. _If Reyna can fake not being angry, you can fake being happy, Jason. Get it together._ I had begun to follow her example. Little did I know I'd come to rely on her for much more.

I stood beside him and he clapped me on the shoulder. "The omens have been read. The gods approve of this choice. Who will join him?"

I knew Dakota would volunteer but before he even had a chance to open his mouth, a tiny, twelve year old girl was piping up from the back. "I'll do it, I'll go!"

I frowned and when I looked at Philip, I was glad to see that he also looked puzzled. Good, I didn't want to trek across country with a grumpy girl who was just as likely to spear me in my sleep as save my life.

"Sit down, Ramirez," someone shouted from the front. "You just got here."

But she didn't. She stood up on the table and stared down at us all. "Every single one of you has had the chance to prove yourself. To prove your loyalty and love for this city. Let me prove myself to you now. I claim this chance."

Gods, did she really buy into this 'for the gods and Rome' bullshit? No one actually believed in that. But whatever her beliefs, this twelve-year-old girl looked really impressive, staring down at us all like that.

But the more I looked at her, the more I started to notice something else. One hand was on her dagger, the other clenched in a fist, her mouth fastened in a tight line. She was terrified, but here she was, volunteering anyway. She was either really eager, really brave, or really stupid. Anyway it was clear she felt like she needed to prove something to the rest of us.

"Reyna. No one doubts you, but you just got here. You need more training," Philip said calmly.

She snorted. When she spoke, her squeaky little voice rang out, tinny, in the hall. "Everyone here doubts me. I know. I see the way you all look at me. You don't trust me. Well when I bring your golden boy back to you safe and sound, you'll know you can trust me." I rolled my eyes. Yep, definitely trying to prove something. For starters, more mature than she looked. I wondered why. This girl was a mystery.

Philip was about to say something else, but she cut him off. "Look, from what I understand, there hasn't been a quest in a while. Which means that most of you have been stuck in camp for a while. I was on the run just a few days ago. I know what it's like out there. I'm smart and resilient. Jason will need my expertise. I can do this. I know it."

Most people still looked doubtful, and I was about to tell Philip to shut this down, when he said, "Very well Reyna. We shall read the omens, and if they are good, you will accompany Jason on this quest."

Octavian, the scrawny augur, was coming forward to read the guts of some teddy bear to let us know what exactly the gods said, when Dakota piped up, "Wait we need to choose one more person. Custom dictates three companions on a quest. I volunteer."

I grinned at him. Wouldn't be so bad now. But when I looked at Philip, he looked sad. "No Dakota. Only two will go on this quest. We don't have the campers to spare."

Dakota was going to protest, but Philip cut him off.

"What do the omens say Octavian?"

The omens were good.


	2. Chapter 2

So far away,

I wish you were here,

Before it's too late, this could all disappear.

Before the doors close,

And it comes to an end,

With you by my side I will fight and defend.

 _Keep Holding On,_ Avril Lavigne

 **If you've read chapter 1, my apologies. I screwed up the timeline. So please read it again just for the correct chronology!**

 **September 9, 2006, The Barracks**

I'm leaving to go on a quest today. With Reyna. This should be an interesting experience.

I leant against the side of the doorframe of her barrack. She hadn't noticed me, too busy stuffing things into her backpack.

"What do you think you're doing?"

She jumped and turned around, and when she saw me, she gave me what I was beginning to consider her death stare. "Jesus! You scared the living daylights out of me."

"You know this is a camp full of kids whose parents are Roman gods. Jesus and paganism don't go so well together."

"Yea yea. My grandmother was a staunch Catholic." She turned back to her packing.

"Oh." That made me pause. How did one reconcile being Catholic with pagan gods. I finally stepped into the barracks.

"Careful," she sang, "you're not allowed in here. There might be some traps in here for trespassers."

I rolled my eyes (which she didn't notice) and stepped next to her. "You didn't answer my question. Why are you going on this quest with me?"

She sighed. "I already told you. I'm taking the chance to prove my…"

"Your loyalty to this camp. Yea yea I heard your little speech. But you know what I think? I think it's complete bullshit. So why are you going?"

She pushed past me, pulled open a drawer and pulled out the only t-shirt and only pair of jeans in it. "Call it an act of goodwill," she said.

I narrowed my eyes at her. She sighed again and said, "Ok Ok I confess. I'm actually a spy for the Titans and I've come to take out one of their most formidable foes. I'll be alone with you on this quest so I'll have ample opportunities to take you out."

"You're impossible," I said, shaking my head at her. "We're leaving in an hour. Don't be late!" Then I turned around and marched out of the barracks.

An hour later, I climbed to the entrance of the tunnel to find Reyna sitting on the grass waiting for me, her backpack lying next to her. "Finally," she said, "I thought you were getting cold feet."

I opened my mouth to reply, but Philip came up just then. "Enough you two. You've done enough fighting since Reyna's arrived. Now listen, it's important you bring this slab back. It's not just for the protection of the camp. Virgin blood holds an immense amount of power. If the Titans were to get their hands on it, it would give them the power to break through the defenses around Olympus and burn it to the ground. We have to keep it out of their hands. So be careful and watch each other's backs. Once the Titans know you're after the slab, they'll send their best pets after you to slow you down, or worse, to stop you. So put your differences aside and work together. You're both strong and powerful. Don't fail us."

"Yea no pressure," I grumbled. Philip smiled at me. "You'll do great," he said, putting his hand on my shoulder.

"Let's get going," Reyna grumbled. He smiled at her too. "Be safe Reyna." She rolled her eyes at him.

"Let's go already," she said again, this time louder. Then she picked up her backpack, strapped it on, and headed into the tunnel. I gave Philip one last smile and followed her.

And that was how I began a quest with the most annoying person I had ever known.

The journey started out well enough. Reyna and I had decided that the first thing we needed to do was find out where the slab was. To find this information, Reyna suggested we head into Berkeley to find a history professor at the University there.

Now she was sitting next to me, staring out the window, drumming her fingers on her knee.

"You're nervous," I said.

"You aren't?" she asked without turning to me. I looked into the window and realized she was talking to my reflection. "The minute we stepped out of that tunnel we sent up a beacon. We said, here we are, come get us!"

"We'll be fine," I mumbled, but now I was nervous. She turned towards me and gave me a small smile.

"We will be." I guess I continued to frown, because then she said, "Let's play a game."

"Why?"

"To distract us."

I shrugged. "Okay, what do you want to play?"

She pointed to a lady sitting across from us. "What do you think her story is?"

I snorted. "Seriously?"

She raised her eyebrows and nodded at me. "I'm waiting."

"Big hat – she's not used to the sun. Maybe from somewhere up north. Hawaiian print shirt? Probably a tourist. More on the heavy side? Probably sits most of the time for her job."

"Good. But that's not her story. That's a description."

"How am I supposed to know her story?"

"You're not. You're supposed to make it up."

"Why would I want to do that?"

She sighed. "To live a little. Get outside of your own head," she said tapping my forehead. The she turned to the window. "To get away from your own life," I barely heard her mutter. She turned back to me. "Forget it, this was stupid."

I frowned at her. I had a feeling that I was beginning to see a little bit of her. She was trying to prove something, but not about who she was, who she could be. She was trying to get out of her own head.

I tapped her forehead. "What's going on in there?" I whispered.

She pulled away from me. "None of your business." Then she turned back to the window and didn't speak to me until we reached Berkeley.

When we finally stepped off the bus, she paused to look around. She looked even more nervous now. "What?" I asked.

"Too easy," she muttered. "Don't you think so?"

Now that she did mention it, it did seem too easy. If the Titans wanted this slab wouldn't they have already been hunting us? But I shrugged and said, "Maybe we're just having a bout of good luck. Don't jinx it." Then I started off down the street towards the university. She kept pace beside, constantly looking around. "Stop doing that. We look too conspicuous. Someone might stop us thinking we're on the run or something."

She nodded, but she was gripping the straps of her backpack too tightly. She was nervous.

We finally made it to the university and stepped into the atrium. It was crowded but just ahead there was a table covered with pamphlets and around it sat a group of kids wearing "Welcome to University of California, Berkeley" t-shirts. So we headed over.

As we drew closer, a bright cheery girl chirped, "Welcome! Are you a freshman?"

Reyna looked at me, and grinned. "I am, but he's not," she said.

The girl laughed. "Silly of me to ask. But how can I help you today?"

"My friend and I are doing research for a class project. Usually, our classmates like to settle for internet sources, but I confess, I'm a bit of an over-achiever. Do you think there's a professor who might be interested in talking to us about ancient Roman artefacts?"

"I'm a history major," one of her other friends said, stepping up. "You could probably talk to Professor Sipher. He's probably the best person to ask about Ancient Rome. But be warned: he's always busy and hates interruptions." She gave us the directions to his office and we set off. When we finally got there, the place look like it'd already been blown up. We rushed into the office to find an old chubby man, flinging papers and books everywhere.

"Not what I was looking for, not it, not it NOT IT! Abby! WHERE IS MY DAMN DISSERTATION?" He turned around and glared at us. "You there have you taken it?"

"What?" I said.

He came over and shook me by my shoulders. "HAVE YOU TAKEN IT BOY! You infernal students! So interruptive, disruptive, and uncreative!"

Reyna did something completely unexpected. She slapped him. The man stopped shaking me and stared at her in wonder. "You're a grown man. If you can't look after your stuff yourself, why should anyone else do it? Get it together man!"

The man continued to stare at her in wonder. Then he rubbed his cheek as if he couldn't believe what had just happened. Then he threw his head back and laughed. "Come in, come in," he finally said, wiping tears from his eyes. "Don't mind the papers. Make yourselves comfortable."

"What just happened?" I whispered to Reyna.

"Someone needed to knock some sense into that man. I believe he's about to thank us."

"You're so weird," I whispered back.

She smirked at me. Then she turned to the man, who looked like a walrus in person form."Mr. Sipher, we were told that you would be the best person to talk to about Roman artefacts!"

"Yes, yes," he said shuffling through some papers on his desk. "What did you want to know?"

"Well I'm sure someone with your interest might try to keep up with news of any new artefacts."

"Yes," he said, sinking into his chair. "Are you interested in something my dear?"

She pulled a piece of paper out of her backpack. "We've heard that a distance slab of Hadrian's Wall was recently uncovered. We'd like to know where it is." She placed the paper in front of him.

Sipher picked up his glasses, glanced at her, and then looked at the picture. "Ah, a distance slab made by the Sixth Legion. There's an artefact worth a pretty penny."

I frowned. "Do you know where we could find it?"

"You young people, always in a hurry." He shook his head. "I may be able to tell you. But first answer me this, what is your interest in the slab."

"Merely academic, professor," Reyna said quickly shooting me a look. _Be quiet!_ Right, like I was going to tell this man all about magic and monsters. Who did she think I was? "We'd like to look at it, examine it, hold it. My friend and I have a deep love for history and we want to understand the story. I've heard that one of the best ways to do that is to examine sources from that time. What better way to learn about Hadrian's Wall than to look at the slab that was part of its creation?" She gave him a sweet, passionate smile.

To my surprise, the professor smiled back at her. "What a lovely, intelligent girl you are. Yes, yes you're right dear. Hang on. Let me call one of my colleagues." Whilst he put through the call, I wandered over to the window. I'd expected to see a bunch of students just hanging out. What I hadn't expected was the giant automaton, marching up to the building. "Reyna, they're here," I yelled. She nodded, jumped over the desk, and said, "Professor, how much longer?"

"Just a second dear," he replied. "Yes, yes George. The slab. What? It's been stolen? WHEN?" Reyna gave me a look.

"Where are they?" she asked. I heard a door smash down the hallway.

"Close." I pulled out my gladius and stood in front of the door.

"Don't be stupid Jason, we can't fight that thing in here. There are too many people around." Her voice was frantic.

The professor was still yelling into the phone. "Those pilfering, no-good, desecrators!"

Reyna rolled her eyes. "Time to go professor! NOW!" She grabbed his wrist and pulled him towards the window.

"You're crazy!" I shouted.

"Do you have a better plan?"

I glared at the door, but I knew she was right. We couldn't fight that thing in here. "Fine! But I still think you're crazy. She smashed a vase through the window and jumped. At the last minute, I realised that I could use the air currents to smooth her landing. I looked out the window and she was safely on her feet. "Come on!" she shouted up to us. I could hear the automaton punching down doors, drawing closer to us.

The professor was hesitating. "Sorry professor," I said, then pushed him out the window. The automaton burst through the door, its golden body gleaming in the light filtering through the hole in the wall. "Adios mi amigo!" Then I stepped out of the window. As soon as I landed, we started running, Reyna pulling the professor along behind her, the automaton's roars bellowing out behind us, the building smoking.

We didn't stop running until the professor begged us to stop. "Stop, stop, please. I can't run anymore!" Reyna glanced nervously behind her. "We shouldn't stop."

"Who blew up my office? What did that man with all the armor want?" the professor demanded.

"Don't worry about it," I said. "What did your friend say?"

"The slab's been stolen! It was up for display at the Smithsonian, and then it was to be moved to the American Museum for Natural History. But it was stolen two nights ago. My best guess is whoever's stolen it will probably try to sell it on the black market. That kind of artefact will fetch a heavy price. Especially with the kind of legend that goes with it." Reyna and I exchanged looks.

She patted him on the back. "We're sorry to have bothered you professor. Thank you for all your help. Whoever attacked the school should be gone by the time you get back." She walked over to the edge of the sidewalk and flagged a taxi. She opened the door for him. "Take care of yourself professor."

He smiled at her. "Take care of yourself dear. You may have a bright future in history."

She snorted. "History is my life."

I smiled. History was indeed our lives.

She turned back to me.

"Well what now?" I asked. "How are we supposed to track something that went onto the black market?"

For some reason, it seemed like her eyes looked darker. "I know someone. How much money do we have?"

I pulled out the cash from my backpack. "A few hundred dollars. Why?"

"We have to go to Seattle."

"You know someone in Seattle who can help us?"

"I don't know for sure that we'll find help there. But right now it's the best lead we've got." There was something off about her. Her voice was stiff and tense.

"You don't want to go to Seattle, do you?" I guessed.

"Look, it doesn't matter what I want. We don't know where else to look and there might be something in Seattle. If you don't want to go, you can go back to Camp Jupiter and tell them you've failed. But you'll go alone!" There was that anger again. She hid it well, but it was always just below the surface.

I put my hands up. "Okay, okay! To Seattle we go!" I hailed a taxi and asked the driver to take us to the nearest bus station. We bought our tickets and decided to go get lunch in the meantime. She ate quietly, distracted and tense.

"We should be fine. By the time that automaton catches up to us we'll be long gone on our way to Seattle," I said, trying to sound positive.

"Yea," she murmured. "We'll be fine. Everything will be fine." Her eyes seemed to be looking at something far, far away. Something I couldn't see.

"Is there anything I need to know about what we're going into in Seattle?"

She shook her head. "Everything will be fine." Her positivity sounded way more forced.

"Yea, we'll be fine," I repeated. When has that ever been true for a demigod?

We left the diner early, so we decided to roam around town for a little while to pass the time. We were just passing a shop full of creepy dolls when something glinted in the window. "Get down," I shouted, crouching over Reyna. The axe barely missed us, crashing into the display and chopping the heads off of the higher mounted dolls. I stood up and raised my gladius. Reyna pulled out a pair of wicked, gleamingly sharp hunting knives.

"Try to break its stance!" she yelled. I frowned at her.

"It's a giant automaton. I think breaking its stance is going to be a lot harder than you toppling a lanky 19-year old."

She rolled her eyes at me. "Just do it!" Then she took off at a run. The automaton tried to smash her, but she dodged. It was like a game of whack-a-mole. I shook my head and ran after her.

"Hey Big-Foot! Over here!" The automaton roared and tried to land a punch, but I ducked and rolled out of the way. It growled in frustration, then it opened its mouth and said in voice that sounded more like the whirring of machine parts, "Where is it? Where is the slab?"

"Seriously dude? You honestly think we'd tell you even if we knew? You think it'd be that easy?"

It raised its foot and tried to squash me. But I raised my gladius, and instead, the automaton stepped onto a really sharp toothpick! _It's not a toothpick,_ she'd said. Ha who's laughing now Reyna? The giant howled and flailed backwards.

"That's it Jason! Break its stance!" Reyna yelled from somewhere above me. Before it could bring its foot down, I darted forward and slashed at its left calf. Black oil leaked out of the wound. The gash infuriated it, but I knew it wouldn't hold it back forever. "Reyna we need a better plan," I yelled.

"I'm working on it!" I looked up to see her scaling the automaton's leg like she was a mountain goat. "Just distract it!"

"For how long?" I shouted in exasperation.

"Long enough!"

I kept slicing at his legs, jabbing at his toes, and poking his heel. He was getting angrier and we were running out of time. "Reyna!"

"Jason!" she screamed. I had been so focused on his legs that I'd completely missed his swinging arm. It smacked right into me sending me flying into a nearby shop window. I groaned and struggled to push myself straight. My vision was blurry, but I could see Reyna scaling its face. Finally she reached his eyes and she jabbed her sword into it, plucked out the eyeball, and left a gaping hole. She looked at me.

"You get it?" she shouted.

I nodded and struggled to my feet. "One, two…" I counted.

"Three," she yelled and jumped. I raised my gladius, thunder roared around me, and a flash of lightning streaked down from the sky straight into the hole where the giant's eye had been. It began to shake and then his body parts were exploding everywhere, metal raining down from the sky.

"AHHHHHHH!" I heard her yell. She was falling too. My body must have been in so much pain, but at the time, the pain didn't even register. I had to get to her. "REY! Hold on!"

I finally spotted her, careening so fast to the ground. I crouched, pushed off the ground, used the air currents to propel me, caught her in mid-air, and bounced off the air currents for a rough landing. But at least she was alive.

She groaned and rolled away from me. "We're going to have to work on your landing."

"You're welcome," I grumbled.

She grinned at me. And after a moment I smiled back. Then we both stood up. "Are you okay?" I asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Never felt better. You?"

"I'm a little bruised, but I'll live."

She finally grinned at me. "We just took out a giant automaton!"

I looked around at the wreckage around me. "Yea I guess we did." I smiled at her. "That was a pretty good plan."

She shrugged.

"But think about this: how about next time you fill me in in advance, ok?"

She laughed. "WE TOOK OUT AN AUTOMATON!" she yelled.

I laughed. Her jubilance was contagious. "Shhhhhh!" I turned around to head back to the bus station, but stumbled. "Ow! Okay I may be a little bit more than bruised."

She caught me, and pulled my right arm around her shoulder. "Sit," she said, propping me up against a wall. She lifted my t-shirt. "You're all purple. Probably broke some ribs."

"Add that to my growing list of battle-scars."

She trailed her fingers over the bruise and I squirmed. "Sorry," she murmured.

"It's okay." It wasn't just the pain.

"I could probably bandage this up. Then some ambrosia and nectar and you'll be good as new." She took the first aid kit out from her backpack, pulled out some bandages, and began to wrap them around me. I leaned my head down on her shoulder so I wouldn't have to move back and forth. It hurt too much. As she wrapped, I said, "You're pretty good at this demigod thing you know."

"Thanks."

"Like you've already got the fighting skills, you're strategic, a natural born leader, and you know first aid."

"What can I say, I was born ready."

"I think there's a lot more to your story."

She pulled back from me, and pulled down my t-shirt. Then she dug the flask out of her backpack. "Here, drink." I took a sip and the familiar taste of brownies made me feel so much better. I sighed as it went down.

"There, you're as good as new," she said. Then she helped me to my feet. It was still uncomfortable but at least I could walk. As we set off back to the bus station, I asked her, "Are you ever going to tell me your story."

"We may be living a history class Jason, but I honestly like keeping the past in the past," she said, and her voice sounded so sad. I suddenly remembered how she'd looked at the picnic. "How do you that? How do you go from jubilant to distant in like minutes?"

"Reality sets in," she replied. "Let's just get back to the station and hope we haven't missed our bus."

 **Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think :)**


	3. Chapter 3

I'm looking for a place,

I'm searching for a face,

Is anybody here I know.

Cause nothing's going right,

And everything's a mess,

And no one like's to be alone.

Isn't anyone trying to find me?

Won't somebody come take me home?

It's a damn cold night,

Trying to figure out this life,

Won't you take me by the hand?

Take me somewhere new?

I don't know who you are,

But I'm, I'm with you

\- _I'm With You_ , Avril Lavigne

We weren't late for the bus. Barely. The doors were closing when we ran up, but a few good bangs on the door, and the driver let us on. Reluctantly.

"Next time I'll leave you out!" he grumbled.

"The chances of that happening are-" Reyna started, but I cut her off, pushing her towards the back. "She means to say thank you sir."

We found seats all the way at the back and settled in for what would be a really long bus ride.

"How are you feeling?" she asked me.

"Good, Rey. You can stop looking at me so worriedly. I'm a demigod not a china plate. I don't break so easily."

She nodded distractedly, then frowned. "What did you call me?"

"Reyna. That's your name isn't it?"

"No you said Rey."

"Did I?"

"That's the second time you've called me that."

"The second time?"

"Yea, you called me that right before you grabbed me in mid-air."

"I hadn't noticed. Well shorter is more efficient I guess."

"Yea, I guess." She was still frowning, but now she also looked thoughtful.

"Do you want me to stop calling you that?"

She didn't respond for a while. Finally, "No. It's fine. It's just – no one's ever called me that before. But I'll get used to it."

She gave me a small smile, and I reached over to squeeze her arm, but when I touched her, she winced. I pulled back quickly. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

She grimaced and stretched out her arm. Her forearm was red and covered in angry blisters.

"You got burnt! Why didn't you tell me?"

"I don't know. I didn't realize!"

"How did you not realize you got burnt?"

"Mmm-hmm-mmm?" She shrugged. "It must have happened when the lightning bolt struck and with all the excitement and adrenaline after, I must not have felt anything."

"How do you not feel all this pain?" I pulled my backpack onto my lap. It was my turn to administer first-aid. She watched me pour some ambrosia onto a bandage, take her hand, and stretch her arm out towards me. She winced when I pressed the bandage to her skin, but otherwise didn't say anything.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Do you have to?"

I chuckled. "You're good at deflecting."

"It's a life-skill."

"Well I'm going to ask anyway." I looked up to see her roll her eyes.

"Of course you will."

"Why did you volunteer for this quest?"

"For Christ's sake Jason. I already answered that question."

"You gave us _a_ reason. You didn't give me _the_ reason."

"Perhaps that reason is my own business."

I stopped dabbing at her skin with the bandage, took out a clean one, poured some ambrosia onto her skin, and began to wrap the bandage around her arm. "We're on this quest together. Look I trusted you to come up with a plan to fight the automaton. Doesn't mean I actually trust you. You haven't given me any reason to. If you can't even tell me why you're on this quest, why should I trust you? Then we might as well go home because if we can't trust each other, this gig won't work." I tried to keep my voice even and soft, but I couldn't help some frustration from spilling out in the end. I could feel her clamming up beside me. The muscles in her arm I was bandaging were tensing up. "Don't," I warned. And for a minute she ignored me, clenching her fists tightly.

Then she exhaled loudly and said, "I came on this quest because I do need to prove something."

She pulled back her arm and fell silent, but I kept staring at her, knowing that she'd get the message to keep going. She looked at me and sighed in exasperation. "You don't give up do you?"

I just shook my head.

"I do need to prove something. Just not to the camp. I know they'll come to trust me, all I have to do is work hard. But I need to prove something to myself." She raised her hands and looked at them, wrinkling her nose in disgust. "You're right, I'm good at this demigod thing. I'm good at surviving. I know what I can do with these hands and it terrifies me. I just – I need to know that these hands can do some good. That my capabilities don't have to be all bad. Do you understand?" She looked at me in earnest.

I didn't know what it was like to be afraid of your own powers. I'd learnt about mine in camp and learnt to put them to good use. But whatever Reyna's powers were, they scared her. I got it. "Yea," I nodded. "But you did good today. You saved Professor Sipher and all those kids at the university by drawing the automaton away. And your plan _was_ good, if only a bit last minute," I said trying to reassure her. She gave me another small smile.

I was starting to really like those smiles.

She pulled up her feet and stared out the window. There was a frown on her face and I knew I was losing her to her anger. So I said, "Look at that guy sitting two rows in front and across from us." She looked.

"What about him?"

"Tell me his story."

She looked at me sceptically.

"Well go on. You basically told me I was bad at it, so why don't you demonstrate hot-shot?" She raised her eyebrows and then smirked at me.

And so we passed a few hours making up stories for people on the bus with us, until we were both so exhausted, we fell asleep.

Next thing I knew, I was waking up to the driver yelling, "Potty Break!"

"Finally, I've needed to pee since we passed Sacramento."

Reyna rubbed her eyes sleepily. "You go, I'll wait here."

She was already drifting back to sleep. "Okay."

After I used the bathroom, I thought we could use some pick-me-up beverages, so I bought two large hot chocolates for us.

When I got back on the bus, I shook her awake.

She glared at me. "Why? You're evil!"

"I'll make it up to you. Here," I said handing her her drink.

She took a sip and made a face. "This is disgusting. It's so sweet!" She held her cup back out to me.

"What? You're crazy! Of course you'd hate something so sweet. Miss Bitter Buds."

"No matter what stupid name you call me, I'm not drinking it."

"Drink, you'll feel better! After ambrosia, this is the best thing for pain."

"I like coffee. Give me a nice cup of Cuban joe, and I won't feel a thing."

"You drink coffee? Look at you, so mature!"

She rolled her eyes at me, but continued to sip her hot chocolate. She finished it in no time, and was back to sleep in even less. I didn't realize that I was smiling at her, until she said, "Quit smiling like that Grace. Someone might think you were a stalker."

"I thought you were asleep."

"Even worse for you to be smiling like that." I grinned, leant my head back against the seat, and fell asleep.

Twenty two hours later, we finally made it to Seattle. When Reyna stood, she wobbled and had to sit back down. "My legs are cramped."

"Yea mine too. But we gotta go."

She nodded, pushed herself up, and pulled herself down the aisle, clutching the back of the seats. When we finally stepped outside, the day was warm, but cloudy. I looked around. Again, I felt we'd gotten here too easy.

"You know this is too easy, right?" she said.

I nodded.

"They're probably waiting for us to figure out where it is, then once we find it, they'll try to take it from us," she reasoned.

"Then shouldn't we stop looking for it?" I asked.

She shook her head. "If we stop looking for it, they'll take it upon themselves to find it. We can't let them do that. We need to find it and then deal with the consequences."

She was right. "Okay. Well, where do we go now?" Reyna started walking southwards. "You said this whole quest thing depends on trust. Well then, just trust me and follow me," she said.

Fair enough. I took off behind her. Finally, we reached a small plaza and walked up to an office whose door showed the amazon logo. "Um, Reyna. You think is going to help us find an ancient slab that's been moved to the black market?"

"Just trust me," she said. "It'll be fine." I wasn't sure who she was trying to reassure. Her hand was shaking as it grabbed the door handle and she took a deep breath before opening it. She walked over to the girl standing in the middle of the entry-hall. "I've come to speak with Hylla."

The girl didn't even look at me, just looked Reyna up and down. "What business do you have with Hylla?"

"I need her help. Please, just tell her Reyna needs her help." The girl arched her eyebrows, but then went down the stairs in the middle of the hall. I stepped up beside Reyna. "Who's Hylla?" I whispered. "You think she'll help us."

"We'll have to wait and see. And it's probably best if you let me do all the talking, okay?"

I frowned at her, but before I could say anything, the girl Reyna had spoken to returned, this time accompanied by another girl. She looked like…

"Woah, she looks like an older version of you," I whispered. "Did you know you had a doppelganger?"

Reyna said nothing, but stepped forwards. "Hylla," she greeted, her voice tense, her back straight. Something was wrong.

But the doppelganger smiled, opened her arms wide, and said, "Ah little sister. You've finally come to your senses."

 _LITTLE SISTER?!_

"Reyna, you have a sister?" I asked, incredulously. The girl's eyes snapped up to mine, flashing dangerously. Definitely sisters- they had the same angry fire. But Reyna's fire depressed her, whereas this girl relished in it.

"I have come to seek your help, sister," Reyna said timidly.

"And you've brought us a gift. What a lovely specimen. He will certainly look well in those orange jumpsuits. Who is he? Is he powerful? Did you capture a powerful demigod boy, Reyna?" she purred, circling me. Hylla was beautiful, and her voice was soft and rich, like a cat's. "Our queen will be most pleased."

Reyna turned around and growled (actually growled) at her sister. "I did not come here to join the Amazons, Hylla. I made my choice and you made yours. This boy is my friend. We're on a quest and we've come to ask for your help."

Hylla sighed. "Until you see the error of your ways little sister, I can't help you."

"Hylla!" she shouted after her sister's retreating back. "If we don't find what we're looking for the Titans will. And they'll use it to destroy Olympus and then to destroy us. Is that what you want?"

Her sister was already walking back down the stairs. She called from over her shoulder, "What have the gods ever done for us Avila? You hold onto some false hope that our mother is watching over us."

"She is!" Reyna stamped her foot. "She is!"

Hylla turned and marched straight towards her sister. "Is she? Where was she when we had to leave our home? Where was she when we were captured by those god-forsaken pirates? Where was she when those bastards put their hands on me, on you? Where was she when-!" she snarled down at her.

Reyna was stepping back, her jaw clenched tightly. "I'm sorry Hylla. I would take those things back if I could, but I can't."

"No you can't take anything back." I was surprised at the venom in her voice. Reyna looked like her sister had just whipped her. _What's happening?!_

"Look, Hylla," I said, stepping towards her. Before I realized what was happening, she'd flipped me onto my back, and pressed her knee to my throat.

"Males speak only when spoken to, and then, with a Mistress at either end," she snarled.

"Hylla, enough!" Reyna pulled her sister back. They were both so strong. "This boy has done nothing to you. You can't go around hating men just because of the actions of a few."

"All men are the same, Avila. Why haven't you learnt that yet?" she said, shaking Reyna by her shoulders.

"I can't believe that. I can't."

"Then you are weak."

Reyna stepped away from her sister. "Maybe I am. But I will do what I believe to be right. And right now, I need to find this slab. Will you help me or not?"

Hylla looked at me, sitting on the floor, then back at her sister. The she sighed, and suddenly her cool, indifferent façade fell away, revealing an exhausted teenager, who looked even more like her sister now. "My chamber is this way." Turning to the other girl that had fetched her, she said, "If our queen should ask for me, you know where to find me." She led them down the stairs, and into a dark, stone hallway, lit by torches. She opened a door on the right and stood back to let us in. I had expected it to be dark, but instead daylight filtered into the room, making the clean white linens bright, and bringing warmth into the coldness. "Make yourselves comfortable." I decided to just stay standing by the door, but Reyna settled on the edge of the bed. She watched her sister fumbling around the room, filling glasses with water and handing them to us. As Reyna stretched out her arm for her glass, Hylla noticed the bandage. She put the glass down on the night-table and knelt in front of her sister.

"You're hurt," she said, unwrapping the bandage. "You must learn to take better care of yourself Avila," she admonished, when the burn had been revealed.

"It's nothing, really." That would become Reyna's favourite lie.

Hylla thumbed over the burn, whispered a few words, and in disbelief, I watched the burns fade away. "You're a healer," I stammered.

She stood up and looked at me. "I learnt a few things from one of the greatest sorceresses of all time. I had a baby sister to look after, of course I picked up healing magic."

I looked at Reyna, who was staring at her arm where the burn had been. Her face was clear, no emotion at all.

"Now tell me, what sort of trouble have you gotten yourself into Avila?"

Reyna told her everything that happened so far. She did a pretty good job, comprehensive and precise.

"You believe this slab will help you protect your camp."

"Yes."

"It will keep you safe?"

"Hylla-"

"Answer the question Avila."

"Yes."

"Then I'll help you." I got Hylla. She may be an Amazon, and she may have chosen a different life than her sister, but Reyna was still her priority. Hylla loved her little sister. She stood up and opened her laptop.

"Isn't that dangerous?" I asked.

She gave me a sly smile. Her smiles were different from Reyna's. Hers were always there, telling you she knew something you didn't – teasing and mysterious. Reyna rarely smiled, but when she did they were sincere and warm.

"My source tells me that there'll be an auction tonight. The slab will be there!"

Reyna and I exchanged happy looks. "Where?"

"In Los Angeles. Some playboy billionaire is hosting a gala dinner and an auction. You'll find the slab there. But you must hurry, the sale is going down tonight. And if you say the Titans are after it, they may already know it's there!"

Reyna's face fell. (I'm sure mine did too). "How are we supposed to get to LA by tonight?"

Hylla gave her sister one of her sly smiles. "I have a surprise for you little sister. Come."

She led us back to the staircases, this time heading up, and came out in a stable. There were regular horses, unicorns, and…

"Pegasii!" Reyna shouted.

"Come." Hylla led us over to a stall where a pegasus stood silently, watching us come towards him. "I had hoped to surprise you for your birthday, but I suppose your need is dire, right now."

Reyna's eyes were shining. _She loves animals_ , I thought. _Huh_. Somehow that seemed fitting.

"He's mine?" she whispered.

Hylla opened the gate, and Reyna stepped inside. "Hello," she said. She stretched out her hand, and the Pegasus snorted. It pawed at the ground, but then stepped forward, pressing it's nuzzle into her hand. Reyna's smile was dazzling. It radiated pure joy. "He's perfect," she whispered.

"What will you name him?" I asked

She thought about that for a while. "Scipio. For the great general Scipio Africanus. But we can call him Skippy, because he looks like peanut butter."

Hylla and I both laughed and she turned to smile at us.

"Now you must go, little sister." She walked to the other end of the stable and pressed a button. A door opened and cool air rushed in. "Go!"

Reyna led Skippy out to the door. She beckoned to me. "Get on!"

I mounted Skippy and waited for her to follow. She played with his mane for a few seconds, then turned towards her sister. I think Hylla was even more surprised than me: she threw her arms around her sister's waist, and buried her face in her stomach. "Te amo, hermana," I heard her murmur. Hylla bent down and kissed the top of her sister's head. "You'll always be my little sister, Avila. Now go, and be happy."

She nodded, stepped away from sister, and mounted in front of me. "Yah!" she shouted, and Skippy took off at a gallop. With three strides, he unfurled his wings and we were climbing into the air.

We flew in silence for a while, enjoying the freedom of the air and flying. This was the best part about being the son of Jupiter - having this to yourself. But I was also glad Reyna was here with me.

"So _Avila_ …"

"Don't call me that," she snapped. "That name doesn't belong to you. It belongs to another person and another life." She was back to her broody, closed off self, but I couldn't help smiling. I head learnt something about Reyna down there: she may have had too much anger in her, but she also had a deep and fierce love inside her too. She had so much to give.

I didn't say anything for a while, but then something started bugging me.

"What?" she shouted.

"What what?"

"What's bothering you? Your hands are clenched around me. You're tense. If you're worried about the quest, don't! We'll be fine!"

I was starting to think that "we'll be fine" was going to be our thing. "It's not the quest. It's Hylla!"

"I'm sorry my sister was so intense. I think being an Amazon suits her."

"No, it's not that."

"Then?"

"It's just – You're lucky to still have her."

I felt her stiffen. "Yea real lucky," I caught her mutter.

"Look I don't know what happened in your past that was so horrible…" She stiffened again. "But I'm not asking for that. All I'm saying that you're so incredibly lucky to have your sister."

She was silent for a while. "You have siblings." She said it like she knew.

"A sister."

"Where is she?"

"I don't know. I haven't seen her since I was two."

She didn't say anything. She just pulled my left arm out in front of her and traced the stripes of my tattoo. "So many," she whispered. "Too many." Her voice was sad. I pulled my arm away, wrapping it back around her waist. I didn't like the way she made me feel when she touched me – like a bubble was growing inside me, hungry for more, for that comfort, for that familiarity. When she touched you, she said so much more. I also didn't like how sad she felt for me. She had enough sadness without mine.

"What's your sister's name?" she asked.

"Thalia."

"Is she like us?"

"I don't know. I was too young."

Again, she didn't respond. She just leant forward and whispered something into Skippy's ear. He sped up and Reyna didn't straighten up. There was something determined in the way she held her shoulders.


	4. Chapter 4

Regrets collect like old friends,

Here to relive your darkest moments,

I can see no way,

I can see no way,

And all of the ghouls come out to play,

And every demon wants his pound of flesh,

But I like to keep somethings to myself,

I like to keep my issues strong,

It's always darkest before the dawn.

\- _Shake It Out_ , Florence and the Machine

 **There is a moment in this chapter, where I describe one of Reyna's moves as 'tic-taced off a wall'. This is a parkour move where the person side jumps off of a wall. Reyna is an overall badass in this one, and my inspiration for her is Tauriel from the Hobbit (because I ADORE her and I adore Reyna so why not?). Hope you all enjoy! As always, thank you for reading, and feel free to leave comments, or like, or follow. Or just read, that's cool too :). Ya'll are the best :)**

We were standing in an alleyway next to the hotel where the auction was being held. "Ok, how do we get in?"

"We should've gotten some clothes from the Amazons," she said. Skippy nickered behind us. "Shh boy. We'll be fine."

Great, now Skippy was part of our thing. "Why do we need clothes?"

She raised her eyebrows at me. "You want to go to a shady, but none-the-less fancy, auction looking like a homeless person?"

I finally took a good look at our clothes. There were burn marks and holes in both of our outfits. "No wonder that bus driver didn't want to let us on the bus," I said. "But we're not going to auction."

"So then how, o prodigal son, do you propose we get into the auction?"

"We're not going to the auction."

She raised her eyebrows at me. I pointed up. The garbage chute was right above us. "Awww man. That's low even for me," she complained.

"What? Little Miss High-and-Mighty can't handle some garbage."

She pouted. "The things I do for acceptance." She stepped a few paces back. "Give me a boost," she said, grinning.

I frowned at her, not sure what she was talking about. Then she started running straight towards the big, garbage bins, and I understood. When she jumped, I used the air currents to push her higher. She landed on top of the bin, crouched, and jumped again. Again, I forced the air currents to push her upwards, and she landed in the chute. She looked down at me. "Coming Saving Grace?" I smiled slyly and took off, using the air currents to push myself straight into the chute next to her, landing in a superhero pose."

She rolled her eyes. "Show off!" The she punched me and said, "We make a pretty good team though."

"Ow," I said, rubbing my shoulder. "If we're so good, why'd you punch me?"

"It's preferable to hugging you."

I rolled my eyes, and she smirked at me. "After you, oh Great Master of Air," she said, bowing to me.

"God you're such a dork." She grinned. I started up the chute, she right behind me. "You're much happier now," I commented.

"It feels good to be so close to success. It's just adrenaline."

"You're too focused on the end and less on the journey. You need to be more focused on the journey, oh humble pupil."

She snorted. "Yes Master Air. I will remember your sagely advice." I turned around and grinned at her, and she shoved me playfully. For the first time in my life, I felt content. Here I was, walking up a garbage chute with someone who infuriated me most of the time, and I was _content_. Reyna didn't look at me like I was her Saving Grace. She just looked at me as a friend, an equal. She didn't need me. She could've probably gotten this slab all by herself, but she looked at me to help her. Not save her, _help_ her, and that was refreshing. She was new and refreshing. Damaged, yes, but there was something peaceful about being around her. About being around someone who looked at me, and didn't see my dad, but me. And then I realized something.

"You chose me," I whispered.

"What?" She frowned at me.

"You chose me!" I repeated, louder this time.

"Are you okay? Maybe I gave you too much ambrosia."

"No, back when you volunteered for this quest. You chose me then."

"I told you already –"

"Yes, you said you needed to prove something to yourself, but you chose me to help you. _You_ let _me_ in." I said triumphantly.

She looked at me like she was trying to glare at me, but again, there was that terror right underneath. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said.

I grabbed her left shoulder. "Look, you don't have to talk about anything. Whatever's going on with you, take your time. But if you need someone, I'm here."

She scoffed and moved away from me. She had put her walls back up. I was afraid that I'd just pushed her away. I didn't want that. I wanted her to be around, to be close. I needed someone like her in my life. Someone who saw me, because I was afraid I would lose myself in other people's illusions.

She kept walking and I followed her in silence. I frowned, something didn't feel right. "Isn't it weird that this garbage chute is so big? Like how many garbage chutes do you know that are this big?"

She didn't reply, just kept walking. Finally we got to the end. "There's your answer," she said, pointing down.

I looked down and saw about a dozen cyclops working in the kitchen. "Since when do cyclops cook?" I whispered.

She shrugged. "They're good with their hands. Maybe that extends to cooking." She squinted at a sign straight in front of us. "The Temple of the Sky Hotel – Kitchen," she read.

"The Temple of the Sky? Think they'll like my dad?" I said.

"Doubt it," she said. She was gripping her hunting knives tightly, her shoulders set, preparing for a fight.

"Hey," I said, grabbing her shoulders and turning her towards me. "We'll be fine."

She scrunched up her nose. "That's our thing now, isn't it?"

I grinned at her. "You bet your ass it is!"

She took a deep breath. "Let's do this." She looked around. "What we need is a distraction. We don't want to attract attention to ourselves."

I grinned. Distraction, huh? Coming right up. I concentrated on the air in the room. Then I bent my will over it, forcing it to blow pot covers, spoons, knives, vegetables, a turkey, and cooking utensils all over the room. She turned towards me and I heard her say, "Are you doing this?" I didn't respond, it was taking all my concentration to keep the objects afloat. The cyclops screamed and ran, chaos reigning in the room. Two of them ran into each other and fell to floor, knocked unconscious. I willed some of the utensils to fly after the other cyclops and they fled the room.

Reyna didn't miss a beat. She jumped down from the chute and headed for the exit sign. I followed her. Once we were out into the stairwell, I let the winds go and the sound of crashing metal reverberated around us. She ran down the stairs, turning back only to say, "That was brilliant!"

I grinned at her. "Master Air at your service."

We found another door, pushed it open, and found ourselves in a long hallway leading to a set of really big, really golden doors. "Where do you think that leads to?" I asked.

"Probably somewhere fancy. Maybe fancy enough to host an auction."

We crept towards it. I didn't like being here. It was too open and too cagey at the same time. If someone were to burst through either door we'd have nowhere to hide and nowhere to run. If they wanted to fight, well, I just hoped it wouldn't come to that.

Obviously, the world needed to prove me wrong. I was just reaching forward to touch the door when Reyna shouted, "Look out!" She grabbed me by the back of my neck and pushed me down, covering my body with hers. I heard a loud thwack and looked up to see a dagger sticking in the door, right where my hand was a second ago. "Why do people keep throwing things at us? What happened to a good old fashioned brawl?" I grumbled.

She rolled her eyes at me. "We can take it up with them later Master Air. Let's just take 'em out first."

She jumped to her feet and bent her knees, preparing to spring at them. But there were so many of them. There's no way we should've gotten through. I stood up behind her. "Reyna, there's no way."

She just smirked at me. "Watch and learn pretty boy."

Two monsters –two dracaenae – slithered towards us ahead of their group, pulling out long, cruel swords, and hissing to reveal sharp, venomous fangs. I pulled out my gladius and held it in front of me, getting ready to attack. Reyna ran forward. One of the two slashed at her with her sword, but Reyna dropped to her knees, spun on them, slashed with one hunting knife across the dracaenae's stomach, and came back up under the other's guard, stabbing her through her neck. They both disintegrated into dust. Then she ran, tic-taced off the wall to her left, jumping over a laistrygonian giant and his javelin, spun around in mid-air, wrapped her knees around his neck, twisted and brought him to the ground. She slashed her knife into the leg of the giant behind him, pulled it back, stabbed the laistrygonian she was choking, got up and threw her knife into a hellhound at the back. She left a pile of dust in her wake and she had done it, it felt, in less time it took for me to blink. She was still slashing through monsters and I finally came out of shock, parrying swords with my gladius, ducking slashes and, occasionally, getting the lucky kill shot. I turned around to find another dracaenae raising a sword over my back, but before she could do anything, sand spilled out of a gaping hole in her stomach. When she melted away, Reyna was staring at me, chest heaving, eyes wide open. One of her hunting knives lay at my feet, where the dracaenae had just been standing. I hadn't even had the chance to raise my gladius to defend myself.

"Thanks," I muttered. She strode towards me, bent down to pick up her knife, and pushed past me.

"Now let's see what's behind this door."

We finally pushed it open. It led into a big ballroom with floor to ceiling windows on three walls. The light of dusk filtered through the window painting our faces salmon and purple. I looked at Reyna. Her brown eyes looked darker and were open wide. They had that same fire I had seen a few days earlier when we had sparred. I was about to ask her about that, when she said, "There!"

She ran over to a line of glass cases to our right on top of a stage. There were four other items in addition to the slab. An old Roman helmet, a Spartan shield, an old anvil, and a sculptured phallus.

I walked over to the phallus, feeling the heat crawl up my neck and my face. She walked over to me and smirked.

"You're all red."

"Why would they just have that lying around?" I sputtered.

Her smirk deepened. "Sex toys."

I looked at her and I must have looked pretty scandalised because she laughed. "Gods, you're so innocent Jason. Ancient Romans saw male genitals as symbol to ward off evil. Penises were everywhere in Ancient Rome. Outside people's doors, on the walls of people's homes and public buildings, even over babies' cribs." I stared open-mouthed at her. I wasn't sure what to say to that.

"How do you know so much about this stuff?" I finally managed to ask.

"Because I read," she said, shrugging in an off-hand way. She was walking towards the slab. "Let's just get it and go. Before someone comes and tries to stop us." She reached into the case and pulled the slab out.

"Weird," she said.

"What's weird?" I said, coming over.

"No lasers, no traps, no guards. It' like they're begging us to steal it."

I took the slab from her and shoved it into my backpack. "Can we please worry about it being too easy when we get out of here? I really don't want to fight anymore right now. Maybe we already took out the security."

She shrugged. "Okay." We managed to make it back to the kitchens without too much trouble. When I pushed open the door, the place was a mess, and the cyclops still hadn't come back.

"They're not very committed to their jobs, are they?"

"This is too easy," she said.

"Relax, everything will be fine." We climbed into the chute and picked our way back to the alleyway. Unfortunately, everything just could not be okay. The alleyway below us was crowded with monsters, of every kind. There was no way we could fight our way through this.

Reyna was about to step out in front of me, but I pulled her back. "There's too many."

"Come out come out, children," a voice called from below. I looked out to see a man with a cruel face and a cropped haircut grinning up at us. That grin sent shivers down my spine. Reyna stepped up next to me.

"What do you want?" she shouted.

"Oh come now child. Give me the slab and I will protect you from this horde of monsters. My lord Kronos has commanded that we protect the child of the Big Three. He believes you can help us do important things."

"Yea right. So you'll save me and shred my friend to pieces. No thanks. I'll take my chances," I shouted back.

"Don't be a fool boy," he snarled. "You've nowhere to run. You go back, the cyclops will hand you over to me. And don't think they'll be so fooled by flying dishes again." I gulped. We'd walked right into a trap. "Hand over the slab and nobody gets hurt."

"No," Reyna said firmly.

Something flicked behind the man, and I barely had time to flatten myself against the wall of the chute, pulling Reyna against me, when two sharp spikes flew past me. "What the-?" I said.

"Manticore," she said grimly. She stepped back out. "I thought your boss told you not to hurt Jason Grace. He won't be pleased."

The manticore snarled. "It's been a long time since I've had the pleasure of inflicting pain on puny demigods. You'll forgive me if I seem a tad bit excited."

Reyna's face hardened. In the evening light, it looked almost cruel – a darkness swirling in her eyes. She raised her hands. "Fine you've got us!"

"What are you doing?" I whispered.

"Trust me," she said, her eyes pleading with me. That darkness was still there though, and it made me afraid. She jumped down onto the bins and then down in front of the manticore. He grinned cruelly at her.

"See that wasn't so hard. Now give me the slab." She pulled her backpack off her shoulders and held it out to the manticore. He reached towards her, and as his fingers closed around the straps, she grabbed his hand. He tried to pull away, but she held on tightly.

"You like pain, beast? Then let me show you pain." I could see her pressing her fingers into the manticore's wrist and suddenly, he began to howl. I covered my ears. That howl was filled with so much pain, so much hurt, it felt like ice was growing from the inside of my heart, boring through the rest of me. But I couldn't block out all the screams of torture coming from below – the manticore wasn't the only one screaming now. I looked down at Reyna – there was black smoke curling off of her, stretching like hungry, greedy fingers towards the monsters that were like fodder. One by one, the black smoke consumed them, not leaving even a speck of dust behind. Finally, Reyna let go of the manticore. He was on his knees, whimpering, eyes red with pain.

"You tell your master this. Tell him we're strong and we do not fear him. We will not surrender to him." The manticore didn't move. "GO!" she yelled. He whimpered and scampered out of the alleyway. We were alone.

I remember how afraid I was on our way back. How could one little girl have so much pain – so much so that it was enough to disintegrate an entire army. I wanted to ask her, I wanted to reach her, but I didn't know how. She was exhausted – her shoulders sagged, her own eyes were red, and they weren't their usual brown – but she was also so distant. I knew she didn't want to talk about it. So I just wrapped my arms around her waist, squeezed her, and whispered, "Thank you for saving us," before falling asleep on her shoulder.


	5. Chapter 5

**OK you guys gotta help me out! So this story isn't doing so well, and I've been wondering why. PLEASE PLEASE give me some feedback. What do you think should be done to make it better? Is it moving too slow? Is the Jeyna angst not happening fast enough? Is the Jason P.O.V. not interesting? You guys gotta gimme something!**

 **PLEASE PLEASE HELP A SISTA OUT!**

 **Hold on to me as we go** **As we roll down this unfamiliar road** **And although this wave is stringing us along** **Just know you're not alone** **'Cause I'm gonna make this place your home.** **Settle down, it'll be clear.** **Don't pay to mind to the demons they fill you with fear** **The trouble it might drag you down,** **If you get lost you can always be found** **Just know you're not alone** **'Cause I'm gonna make this place your home.** **\- Phil Phillips,** ** _Home_**

 **SEPTEMBER 20, 2006 The Barracks**

It's been almost two weeks since we've been back at camp. I've barely spoken to her. What would I even say? Truthfully, maybe I am a little afraid of her. What she did that night. That was terrifying. What if she touched me and I disintegrated?

But what if I can help her. _How_ do I even help her? Would she want me to?

Why do I even care?

We trained that afternoon. Life was going back to its normal routine. Training, War Games, sentry duties, clean-ups. Reyna had extra responsibilities. Skippy was only allowed to stay after she insisted that she would take care of him herself and that she wouldn't ride him until she became an officer.

"How do you know you'll be an officer?" I had asked her.

"Oh I will," she had replied, her voice fiercely determined.

But that afternoon, she stopped me after training.

I was just turning to leave with Dakota when she said, "A word Grace."

I looked back at Kota who smirked at me, rolled my eyes at him, and then walked over to her.

"What's up?"

She pulled something from her bag and held it out to me.

"What's this?" I asked.

"Your file."

"My what?"

"Your file. They have a file on all the legionnaires."

"Who's they?"

She sighed. "The Praetors dumb-ass. Who else?"

I took the file and looked at it. "Wait! How did you get this?"

She shrugged.

"Did you break into their office and steal it?" I asked.

She shrugged again, non-chalantly. "It wasn't that hard."

I stared at her open-mouthed until she shifted uncomfortably. Then I cleared my throat and asked, "Why did you get this?"

"I thought you might like to know what happened with your sister. Maybe it's in there."

"Oh." I flipped the cover open and there was a picture of a beautiful woman staring up at me. Suddenly my mouth felt dry and my stomach felt as if it had dropped out of its usual position in my abdomen. I must have been staring at it too long because she reached out and touched my hand. I flinched and she pulled away quickly, a pained, guilty look on her face.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

I wasn't sure if I didn't want her to be so I said nothing.

"Look read it, don't read it. It's up to you. But it seems to me that you're still hung up about your sister. Maybe you can find some closure." She picked up her bag and shouldered it. "I'll see you around Grace."

She left me standing on the field, too emotionally conflicted to think straight.

 **SEPTEMBER 20, 2006 THE BARRACKS**

I've picked up and put down that file about 10 times already. I don't know if I want to read it or not. I'm afraid of what I'll find in there. What if I find out my family is broken? Worse, what if I find out they're happy without me?

No, I don't want to read it. Ignorance is bliss.

I stuffed the file under my mattress with my journal.

The next afternoon, however, I pulled the folder out. I was restless – this file felt like it was haunting me. So I was going to give it back. Put it out of reach. Put it away for good.

I found her sitting on her bunk in the barracks for the Third. Her back was propped against her pillows, her knees pulled up towards her chest, her hands clutching an open book. There were other campers hanging out in their bunks – sleeping, talking to each other, and throwing things at each other. But she took no notice of them, completely engrossed in the book. I cleared my throat. Six eyes turned towards me – indignant, irritated, and surprised. But she didn't look up. Gods, she was exasperating.

"You may be the son of Jupiter," one of her bunk mates said, "But it still doesn't give you the right to come into our barrack."

"Yea, we wouldn't want you bringing all that Fifth loser in," another of her charming cabin mates said.

She finally looked up and when she saw me, she smirked. The nerve of her.

"Sorry guys. I'll do my best to keep the loser outside. But I need to talk to Reyna and if she won't come outside, I guess I'll just have to bring the loser in," I replied. Her cabin-mates all but kicked her out.

She glared at them before turning round and stomping off. When I finally caught up with her, she turned the glare on me. "Did you have to antagonize them?"

I shrugged. "One could say they antagonized me."

She sighed really loudly. "You're annoying." After a moment, she stopped and looked at me. "What?"

"What what?"

"What did you want with me?"

"Oh." I held out the file. "You can take this back."

She raised her eyebrows at me. Then she lifted her hand and took it from. She turned it towards her. "Did you read it?"

I shook my head. I thought getting rid of the file would make me feel better. But now I knew it was there, it existed, and it bothered me. The itch was getting worse.

She sighed, but I didn't think she was exasperated. It sounded more like she was sad. Why would she be sad? Why would she care?

"Jason, this isn't my business. But I know complicated families. Sometimes I wish I didn't know anything about my family, that I didn't have any memories of them. I sometimes wonder if it would be easier to live with a fantasy than with everything I know." Her voice was growing hoarser and heavier as if all her experiences with her family was physically wearing her down. Looking at her, I thought, maybe they were. Her shoulders slumped forwards, her mouth turned downwards, her eyes looked haunted. She looked older when she spoke of her family. "But then I think maybe it wouldn't. It's easier to move on with my life when I know something definite about them. I'm not looking over my shoulder thinking about what could have been. I'm not wasting my life by trying to re-create the past. I know what happened and I choose to move on." She took a deep breath. "I think that maybe your fantasy of your family may be better than the reality, but if you knew the truth, then you could deal with it. Not with what-ifs. You wouldn't spend your whole life questioning who you are."

"I'm not questioning who I am."

She gave me a knowing look and I got the feeling she didn't buy that. "Take the file, Jason. Take your time. You don't have to look at it now. Think about it. But reclaim your past. Don't let it keep a hold on you." She held it out towards me.

I shook my head. "I can't. I don't want to know."

She stepped closer and put her right hand around my neck. "You are not alone, Jason. Look around you. _This_ , New Rome, is your home. No one can ever replace your real family, true, but maybe some of us can make our own family."

I looked up at her. Her eyes were wide – earnest and needy. "You believe that?" I asked.

"I have to," she whispered. "I'll have nothing if I don't. Take it," she said, shoving it at me.

I took it from her, not sure if I would ever be able to look at it. She must have sensed my hesitancy because she said, "If you want, I can look at it with you."

I bit my lip. I wasn't sure if I wanted to share this with anyone. But I also wasn't sure if I could this by myself. So I nodded. "When I'm ready," I said.

She nodded once and walked away.

The file stayed hidden for a whole month before I finally took it out again. And the reason I took it out? I was having nightmares of my mother. I kept hearing her voice in my dreams. _Wait here. I will be back for you dearest_ , she taunted. I was homesick for a home I'd never really known. I'd barely slept in the past few weeks and it was starting to wear me down. So I'd had enough. What was that thing Reyna had said? _Reclaim your past. Don't let it keep a hold on you_.

Fine, I was going to reclaim my past. Let's hope it would at least give me some peace of mind.

So I stopped her after training. "I need your help," I grumbled. When I looked up at her I could swear she was trying not to laugh.

She had the decency to turn away. "Sure," she said, shrugging.

We walked into the city, side-by-side, not saying anything. She didn't seem to want to say anything. At first, I thought that was weird, but then I started thinking that maybe she just didn't feel the need to say anything. That there was something peaceful in all this. "You seem different," I said.

"Mmm-hmm? Different how?

"Just… peaceful. Less angry."

Her lips tightened, but she tried for a non-committal shrug. "My bunk-mates might disagree with you." She modulated her voice so she sounded like a whiny eight-grader. "Reyna you're such buzz-kill. You're so serious and all you want to do is train, train, train. You've got so much bad energy it's making me break-out." She let the imitation go. "Gods, they're so annoying. WHAT DO THEY WANT FROM ME!" she yelled, flinging her hands up to the sky.

I frowned at her. "You're weird. Maybe they just don't get the weird." She narrowed her eyes at me, and I gave her a mischievous smile. Bumping into her I said, "Their loss."

She gave me a small, begrudging smile, bumped back into me, and took off down the road at a run. "Beat you to the city, Grace!" she taunted. I watched her go. Something bothered me. She seemed so at peace, so easy-going when she was with me. What were her bunk-mates missing? Suddenly something clicked, something that made me feel apprehensive. What if the variable was _me_? What if _I_ made her feel at peace? I didn't want that kind of responsibility.

I dismissed the idea. How could I possibly make her feel that way? She barely knew me. _I_ barely knew _her_. Being the son of Jupiter was already too much responsibility, I didn't know if I could be an emotional support for the angriest person in the world. I didn't want to carry her baggage around.

When I caught up with her, she wasn't even winded. She punched my arm and said, "If we were running from monsters, you'd be dead."

"Sorry," I muttered. "I got distracted.

She gave me a quizzical look but before she could say anything, I walked off, leading her towards my favourite café. We ordered our drinks and sat down at a table in a private corner. I laid the file on the table between us.

"I'm ready," I said.

She nodded gravely. I took a deep breath, and opened the file.

I don't how many hours passed or how many drinks we burnt through. All I know is that every page I flipped through made me feel worse and worse. By the time I was done, I was really depressed. I looked over at Reyna. She was looking at a picture of my mom. Her jaw clenched and her eyes had a steely edge to them. I knew that look - she was angry. But she took a deep breath and looked at me.

"What now," she asked.

"What do you mean?"

She pulled out the last page. "We have her address. We can find her. The only question is: do you want to?"

"We?"

"I'm not letting you do this alone."

"This is _my_ family, Reyna. You don't have to bear this burden."

"I got you started on this. I can't leave you alone to finish it by yourself."

I felt like I should've told her that it was okay, that I could do it by myself. The truth was I was afraid, and even though I barely knew her, I felt like I needed her to be there. I needed someone to hold my hand. It was selfish, I knew that, but I couldn't refuse her help. So I nodded. "When would we go?"

"This weekend," she said firmly. "We'll go this weekend."

"Don't we have to get permission from the Praetors?" I asked.

"Leave that to me," she said. "I'll get it done."

I believed her.

 **Seriously, I LOVE you guys for taking some time for this story. Even if you just wanna read, that's cool :).**


	6. Chapter 6

Carry on my wayward son There'll be peace when you are done Lay your weary head to rest Don't you cry no more. Once I rose above the noise and confusion Just to get a glimpse beyond this illusion I was soaring ever higher But I flew to high. Masquerading as a man with a reason My charade is the event of the season And if I claim to be a wise man It surely means I don't know. - _Carry On My Wayward Son_ , Kansas

We were ready to go on Saturday afternoon. I don't how she convinced the Praetors to let us go, but the day before, after training, she told me to be ready to leave by two.

I was ready. To leave, I mean. To see my mom? Not so much. I didn't know whether we'd actually find her, whether she'd still be at the address we'd found, or if she'd even speak to me. I'd spent the last few days playing out scenes of how the whole thing could go, but how do you prepare to face the woman who gave birth to you and then abandoned you?

I found Reyna waiting for me in front of my barrack. She had the same backpack she'd carried when we quested together, but she'd given up the armor, so she looked almost ordinary – like any other 7th grader going to school – in her jeans and Camp Jupiter t-shirt and hair braided.

She nodded at me and said, "Alright, let's go."

I appreciated that she didn't ask if I was ready. I was beginning to think that she was very careful with her questions and comments. She knew exactly what to say to me.

I nodded and when she turned and headed out towards the gates, I followed her.

My mother had a gig in San Francisco performing at a small community theatre here. It seemed odd that my mother would settle for such a small, insignificant act. The hopeful optimist thought maybe she'd taken it to be closer to me. The spiteful side whispered that this was her fall from _grace_. That this was the best she could get.

Whatever her reasons, the taxi dropped us off in front of a shabby theatre 30 minutes later. The sign on top read

"The Presley Theatre"

and underneath, right in the middle, was a beat-up box office. It was dark, even though an old man sat in the booth, and the glass was cracked in several places. We headed towards it, Reyna marching ahead, back straight and stiff.

"We'd like tickets to a show, please," Reyna said.

The old man started, his head bouncing off the fist it was resting on. He stared at us like he hadn't seen customers in years, which, given the looks of the place, he hadn't. He continued to stare at us, until Reyna said again, "Tickets, sir. Please."

Another moment went by before he said in a wheezy voice, "Which show?"

"Ummmm…" I said. I didn't know which show featured my mother.

"The one with Beryl Grace. She's my favourite," Reyna supplied, putting on the brightest, girliest smile I'd ever seen. I grimaced, sure he wasn't going to buy it, but the old man tore two ticket stubs off a large roll with shaking hands and handed them to us.

"That'll be thirty dollars," he croaked.

Reyna fished the money out of her pocket, handed it to him, and grabbed the tickets.

We walked into the theatre. If the outside was ugly, the inside was downright terrifying.

"This is the part where the audience screams "DON'T GO IN THERE!"" I whispered.

She smirked at me. "Aww, would the widdle chicken like to wait outside?"

I elbowed her and she grinned at me.

"Which way?" I asked.

"Let's find the dressing rooms."

We walked up to the stage where the curtains were drawn. Reyna looked at me and raised her eyebrows in a "you first" kind of way, so I climbed up, and she followed me. We pushed our way behind the dusty, velvet curtains to find crew members bustling around – doing makeup, fixing costumes, mending the set. But no one spared us a glance. We slipped away into the corridor that led to the dressing rooms.

"Which one?" I whispered.

"She's the star, yea?"

"Yea."

"Then she'll probably have one all to herself. The biggest one." She looked around the corridor. "That one," she said finally, pointing to a big door at the end of the hallway. We walked up to it. The door was once red, but now the paint was peeling, the red so faded it looked almost brown. Three points of a gold star showed faintly against the red paint. But the name Beryl Grace was in bold black, starkly highlighted against the fading colours. She was new then.

Reyna looked at me and nodded. I took a deep breath, raised my left hand, and knocked.

"Is that you Sharon? Finally, you've kept me waiting long enough. I go on stage in thirty minutes, I needed that tea an hour ago," a woman called, grumpily, from the other side of the door. I looked at Reyna and she shrugged. It was all or nothing.

"It's not Sharon, it's your son Jason. Jason Grace."

There was silence from the other side of the door. Then – the scraping of a chair, and the crash of glass, and scratching at the door. Finally, the door opened inward and a pale, thin face peered out from behind it.

Her hair was in curlers, just as golden as I remembered. Her blue eyes were open wide with shock and fear, and staring down at me, sending a nervous jolt up my stomach. What I didn't remember was the paleness and the thinness.

She stared at me open-mouthed until I cleared my throat and said, "Hi. Mom."

Her mouth closed into a tight, red line. She narrowed her eyes and straightened up, pulling the door wider. "Come in," she said in a clipped voice.

I stepped in behind her and turned back to look at Reyna who was hesitating at the doorstep. "Aren't you coming?" I asked quietly.

She shook her head. "I shouldn't."

I panicked. "Please," I whispered, a desperate edge to my voice. I wasn't like her, I wasn't strong enough to do this on my own.

She looked me, mouth open ready to protest. I could see the 'No' on her lips, but perhaps the desperation registered, because she nodded. "Okay."

She stepped in behind me and my mother closed the door behind us. She walked over to the mirror and took a seat, fixing her lipstick as she stared at us in the mirror. I rolled my eyes, and I could see Reyna narrow her eyes at her.

"Jason darling," my mother crooned when she finally finished preening herself.

I gritted my teeth. I hated her at the exact same moment that I wanted her to love me. To want me back. I knew if she said, right here, right now, that she wanted me to come home with her, I would. I'd leave everything and wouldn't look back.

She stepped towards me, arms outstretched as if to embrace me. I stepped back from her, and she fumbled, dropping her arms.

"Why?" I whispered, my eyes widening.

There was a flash of pure anger in her eyes, but she blinked, and it vanished. I felt Reyna shift next to me.

"Jason," she whispered. I ignored her.

"Why, mother?" I asked again, louder and angrier.

She waved her hand irritably. "Because it had to be done Jason."

"Why?" I almost shouted.

She looked at me her eyes turning almost purple. Reyna shifted closer to me.

"Because you were a disgusting reminder," she snarled stepping towards me. "Because every time I looked at you, I saw him. And was reminded of the way he abandoned me. ABANDONED US!" she shouted, a purple fire radiating off of her.

She pounced, hands outstretched, but Reyna stepped in front of me. She pushed her hard, sending her crashing into the mirror behind her. Glass rained down around my mother and I moved to help her, but Reyna tugged on my arm.

"Come on!" she yelled pulling me towards to the door.

"I can't just leave her," I yelled back.

"We have to. Please." Her voice was desperate, pleading. "Please."

"No," I said. But Reyna was strong and she was dragging me behind her, out the door, through the hallway, out of the backdoor, and into a bright alley.

She let go of me and walked ahead, heaving hard, wringing her hands.

"What the hell Reyna?" I shouted, stomping towards her. "WHY THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT? YOU COULD'VE KILLED HER!" I pulled her shoulders around so that she was facing me. Her eyes were wild and filled with terror. She shook her head at me.

"Explain, Reyna!"

She shook her head even harder, looking down at the ground. Her whole body started to shake.

"REYNA ANSWER ME!" I shouted, shaking her roughly.

She sobbed. "I can't. I can't. I can't!" She stepped out of my grasp.

"What do you mean you can't?" Even to my ears, my voice was cold, mean.

It seemed to be cutting into her. She sank to her knees, put her hands on either side of her head and shook her head. "I can't. Please, I can't!"

But I was angry. At my mother who just admitted she hated me, at Reyna for dragging me here in the first place, for putting me through this.

"You, YOU told me that I should find out what happened. YOU told me that I should find closure. YOU dragged me out here. And just when I was about to get some answers you pull me away. You hurt my mother!" I yelled, bending over her.

She flinched. "She was going to hurt you!" she sobbed.

"She's my mother. She left me when I was two. What worse thing could she possibly have done? And how would you even know that?"

"I know. I know, I know." She was shaking so hard, and still she shook her head as if to emphasise each word. "Please. I can't tell you."

"You owe me that much Ramirez."

She collapsed. Tears were streaming down her face freely. She looked up at me, and her eyes were fractured, shell shocked. "I swear I didn't mean to. I swear!"

"You didn't mean to push her? Jee I wonder how I missed that!" I said, crossing my arms.

She was shaking her head between her hands again. "I didn't mean to I didn't mean to I didn't mean to." She was crying hard now, eyes clamped shut, her knees now tucked to her chest.

I frowned down at her. I couldn't understand why this would bother her so much. I crouched down in front of her, trying to pull her hands down. "Ramirez, why did you think my mother was going to hurt me?" I snarled. I didn't care she was crying, I didn't care that she was breaking down in front of me. All I knew was that she dragged me here, and just when I had a chance to sort things out with my mother, she'd blown it. "What the hell are you going on about?"

She finally looked up at me, hiccoughed, and said, "I didn't mean to kill him. I just wanted him to get away from us. I thought – I thought he was going to kill my sister. I thought he was going to hurt us. I swear I didn't know, I didn't know-" She broke off, her body starting to tremble again.

I stepped back from her, a sense of dread starting to fill me. "Reyna, who- who did you kill?" I managed to stammer.

She shook her head. "Please, I can't."

"Reyna, tell me," I said firmly, sitting down in front of her.

She looked into my blue eyes and I could see that this was killing her – her brown eyes broken and traumatized. She looked back down and then I heard her whisper, "My father. I killed my father."

I recoiled. Patricide was the most dishonourable crime a Roman could commit. What Reyna had done – her sentence was death. And honestly, it terrified me. The more I learnt about Reyna, the more she terrified me.

She looked up at me and there was panic and desperation in her eyes. "Please, Jason." She reached towards me, but I flinched and pulled back. Her shoulders slumped forward and she dropped her hand. Her tears started drying up, but she was broken. I could see it – in the slump of her shoulders, in the blank numbness of her eyes.

I swallowed the revulsion. "Why?" I asked quietly.

"Because I thought he was going to hurt me and my sister. My father- Jason you don't know what he was like. He was terrifying and unstable. And one night," she curled up as small as she could, "one night he was in a fit of rage. He was yelling, furniture was flying everywhere. A chair hit Hylla and I thought he'd killed her. I was terrified and angry. So I picked up a knife and I ran at him. I didn't know it was Imperial Gold. I didn't know that it would hurt him like it did. I just wanted to scare him off. Please, I swear. Jason I swear." She looked up at me, her eyes pleading, fresh tears making the brown glisten. "Please Jason," she begged.

I looked down at her, my heart breaking. I couldn't believe that she was carrying that weight around. Pity swelled in my heart.

"Reyna-"

"I pushed your mom because she had the same look in her eye. The same purple fire that my father had. I don't know if-"

"JASON!" The back door slammed open and my mother ran out, half the curlers in her hair flying behind her. I jumped back and Reyna jumped to her feet, pulling her knife out.

"Get back mania! If you try to hurt him-."

My mother waved her aside. "There's no need for that child. Not yet, at least." She stepped towards me and before I could move back she grabbed my shoulders, holding me firm. Bending so her own face was level with mine, she murmured, "Jason, my son, my baby," gazing into my eyes. Her own were clear - no purple fire, no madness.

"Mom," I murmured, brushing some curls away from her face.

She pulled me into a tight hug and peppered kisses onto my head. I buried my face in her chest, inhaling her familiar lemony scent. After a few moments, she pushed me back. "Let me look at you," she said. "Look how you've grown, how handsome you are. And the scar from when you tried to eat a stapler. You still have it!" She laughed joyously, her voice like a fresh breeze. I grinned at her. She straightened and looked back down at me. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Tears were streaming down her face, her voice cracking on her sobs.

"Why mom?" I asked quietly. "Please just tell me."

"I had to Jason. She wouldn't let us live in peace. If I didn't give you up, she would've taken both you and your sister. And I was too weak to try and fight her. I let myself be consumed with pride and vanity. It stung that your father left us."

"Who wouldn't let us mom?"

"His wife. Juno." Her eyes flashed angrily, but the purple fire wasn't there. "We named you after her favourite hero to appease her, but she still demanded tribute. She wanted you Jason. She wanted you to be hers. And I let myself be bullied. I thought it was the only way to save the rest of our family. But I destroyed it." She stooped in front of me and took my hands in hers, rubbing her thumbs over the back of my hands. "Right after I left you, Thalia ran away. She hated me, couldn't even look at me. And I don't blame her. I thought the greatest thing I'd ever done was woo a god. But I was wrong Jason. The greatest thing I ever did - ever had - was you and your sister. And I let it all slip away." She squeezed my hands and looked up at me. "I know it won't mean much to you, but you should know that I loved you very much Jason. And before I go, I need to ask if you can forgive me."

"Go? Go where? I'm here now."

"I don't have much time Jason. You saw what happened in there. It's only a matter of time before the madness consumes me and I am lost forever. I don't want you to see that happen to me. I don't want it to ruin you. She cupped my cheeks with both her hands. "You're too good, too precious."

I glanced at Reyna over my mother's shoulders – she was the paragon of what a person would become if a loved one descended into madness in front of them. But I couldn't just let my mother walk away. Not when I was so close to getting her back.

I put my hands over hers and squeezed them. "Please, mom. Don't go. Come to camp with me. We can help you."

She pressed a kiss to my forehead and smiled ruefully. "I have to go Jason. Deep in here," she pointed to my heart, "you know that. Find your sister Jason. Find her, and mend our family. Just because I'm not around doesn't mean that our family is broken. Please. And when you find her, tell her – tell her, I love her," she sobbed.

"Mom-"

"And you," she said, turning back to Reyna and ignoring me. Reyna straightened, tightening her grip on her knife. My mother walked over to Reyna and took her by the shoulders, lowering her face once more to hers. "You're his friend?"

Reyna's eyes flicked to mine and without looking away, she nodded.

"Good," my mother said. Reyna pulled her gaze back to my mother. "I'm glad. He could use a friend like you. Strong. Fierce. Will you watch over him?"

She nodded.

"Promise me!" she said loudly, shaking Reyna.

"I promise," Reyna stammered.

"Good. Jason, I'm leaving now. I'm going to a hospital I pray will be able to help me. If they can, I will find you. If not, I'm glad I got to say goodbye." She pressed a kiss to my forehead again and turned and walked away.

I followed, shouting, "Mom! Mom!"

She sped up and when I reached the end of the alley I saw her get into a car and drive away."

"Mom! MOM!" I screamed, running after her. I knew it wouldn't do any good, that she wouldn't stop, but I would've done anything to change her mind.

I stopped running, staring after the car, and even when it disappeared I kept staring, hoping she'd come back. My cheeks were wet. I hadn't realized I'd started to cry.

Reyna came up beside me.

"She left. She left me again." I murmured.

"She had to," Reyna whispered quietly. I could feel her looking up at me and I turned towards her.

"We're supposed to be a family. She's supposed to stay. She's my mother."

"Being family means protecting your own. She left because she needed to protect you from herself. From her own demons."

"But she's my mom," I insisted weakly. I didn't know what else to say. I sat down on the pavement, too shocked to say anything more, too shocked to stand. The tears kept flowing.

Reyna sat beside me, took my hands and covered them with hers. She didn't say anything, just held my hand while I cried. When I sobbed "She's my mom" again, Reyna squeezed my hands, and suddenly I felt…better. I suddenly felt more peaceful. I sniffed and looked up at Reyna, frowning at her.

"You'll be okay Jason," she murmured, stroking my hands. Wave after wave of resilience washed over me.

"Are you doing that?"

She frowned. "Doing what?"

"This."

"This what?"

"Making me feel like this."

"You're blaming your sadness on me?" she said indignantly, pulling her hands away. Immediately, the sadness overwhelmed me, I grabbed her hands back.

"It IS you," I said in wonder, staring at her hands.

"Then stop touching me if _I'm_ the reason you're sad," she yelled.

I smiled at her. "Reyna, can't you feel it? You're not making me sad, you're making me… stronger, braver, more peaceful."

She stared at me. "Don't be ridiculous Jason. I can't do that."

"You can share your pain. Why can't you share your strength?"

She frowned at me, but I could tell the idea intrigued her. She tightened her grip on my hands and closed her eyes. A tidal wave of _strength_ poured into me. Resilience, courage, willpower filled me up like I was an empty cup. I felt like I could deal with the devastation of a nuclear explosion.

"Rey, that's amazing!" I laughed.

She pulled her hands away, but the euphoric sensation didn't disappear immediately this time. She held them up and stared at them in wonder. "I did that?" she asked quietly looking at me. I nodded. She kept staring at her hands as if she was seeing them for the first time. Then she stretched out and placed them on my cheeks, rubbing my tears away. "Be strong Jason." And I felt her strength wash through me once more, washing the pain away.

 **OCTOBER 22 2006, THE BARRACKS**

 _I found my mom and it was worse than I thought it would be. I found her and I lost her. Again. She's sick and I don't know if there's anything I can do to make her better. What I wouldn't give to be a child of Apollo now, to have healing powers. Or a child of Bacchus so that I could cure madness. Instead, I'm the son of the most powerful god and yet I'm completely powerless to help her. It's the worst kind of irony._

 _Wish I could have Reyna's strength. To carry my sadness but not let it bury me. She's so tiny, how does she do it?_

We hadn't spoken much on our way back to camp and when we got here, she left my side right away. She looked more miserable than I felt, her shell-shock returning. I wanted to hold her hand again, try and pour some of my own strength into her, but I didn't know if that would work. I didn't know if _I_ had any strength to give her.

I found her later that night, on a walk in the city. She was sitting at the edge of the dock, her feet dangling into the lake. I walked over and sat down beside her.

"Hey."

She didn't answer me. This time, I worked up the courage and took her hand, intertwining our fingers. I tried to imagine my strength flowing through me, into our hands, and into her. I don't know if it worked, she didn't say or do anything that made me think it did. But I didn't let go of her hand. I felt at peace with her hand there. It wasn't romantic. It was a deeper need than that. A need for that sense of peace.

Finally, she said. "Why haven't you told them yet?"

I frowned. "Tell who what?"

"Tell _them_ ," she said, jerking her head back to camp. "The Praetors, the other campers, everyone. Tell them what I did to my father." Her voice cracked and she lowered her head. Something glistened at the edge of her eyes.

I squeezed her hand tighter. "I'm not going to tell them anything. You did what you had to do to protect yourself. Your sister. Your father was lost. He failed as your father. You said family was about protecting your own? Well he didn't. But _you_ did," I said jabbing my finger at her. "You protected your sister."

"It doesn't change what I did!" she shouted, meeting my eyes. "How? How do you look at yourself in the mirror Jason? How do you look at your hands? How do you trust yourself when you did something so horribly to someone you loved? How do you have any sense of self when you've done something so horrible? I'm a monster Jason!" My father was a terrible man when I knew him, but he was my father, and I loved him. I wanted him to love me. And I took any chance of redemption away from him!" Tears were pouring down her face again and I wrapped my arms tightly around her.

"He wasn't your father anymore Rey. Just a remnant. There was nothing left to save."

She sobbed harder. "I failed him."

"He failed you. And your sister." I pushed her back so I could look at her. "Look at me." She didn't. "Look at me," I said again, more firmly, and she raised her eyes to mine.

"You are not a monster. You have the strength of a thousand dragons, and the heart of a thousand lions. Only someone like that could have done what you did for me. Even when you didn't owe me anything. Especially then. I'm sorry that this happened to you. I'm sorry that you had to carry this burden alone. But you're _not_ alone anymore. You have a family now. Here. With us." I took a deep breath and plunged in. "With me. If the whole world turned its back on you, you still won't be alone. Because _I'll_ be with you."

She hiccoughed. "I can't ask that of you."

"You're not. This is my choice. You're my family now and we protect our own."

"Jason, you don't have to bear my burden." I opened my mouth to protest, but she continued, cutting me off. "But… thank you." She wrapped her hands around my waist and buried her face in my sweater. "Thank you for helping me see that I'm not just a monster."

I hugged her back tightly. "Come on, I'm going to introduce you to the rest of the family."


	7. Chapter 7

I don't like to wait too long, to wait too long, wait too long,

Bring it on, and bring it storng, and bring it baby.

I feel the pain and it feels good,

I knew it would,

Your heart burns slow

I feel the pain and I cry out, I cry out.

I need you, I need you.

Babe I want to drink you in like oxygen, like oxygen.

Baby I'm house on fire,

And I wanna keep burning.

I'm going up in flames,

And you're to blame, yeah you're to blame,

Baby I'm a house on fire,

And I wanna keep burning.

\- _House on Fire,_ Sia

It didn't take long for us to become inseparable. At first, I felt like I needed to protect her, but it turned out Reyna didn't need anyone to protect her. She just wanted someone to _see_ her, to understand her, to accept her. She didn't want me to carry her baggage around, she just needed me to know it was there, accept it, and her along with it. And I could do that.

Hell, I needed her to do that for me.

As the Titan's grew more powerful, I found myself reaching out for her more. We sparred together, ate together, hung out together. Wherever I went, I invited her along. Soon she was just as much a part of my family as if she'd always been there. At first, I told myself it was because I wanted her to feel a part of something, that I didn't want her to be alone.

But as the threat of war grew, I started finding excuses for us to be alone together. We'd walk in New Rome behind everyone else. We'd spar quietly, we'd sit by the docks, we'd get hot chocolate and brownies at the café late at night. And it wasn't because I wanted to be there for her. No, it was more that I needed to be with her. More and more, the campers and people of New Rome looked at me to step up, to lead, to be the son of Jupiter. They were seeing less of Jason Grace and more the son of Jupiter. I was a hero to them, and that was great, but I was losing myself. And I was afraid of drowning.

But with Reyna, it wasn't like that. She laughed at me, she teased me, she _challenged_ me. She picked fights and pushed me harder than anyone had ever pushed me. She didn't just see the son of Jupiter. Yes, she expected me to carry my responsibilities, she expected me to fulfill my duty, but it wasn't all she saw. She _saw_ Jason Grace. I loved sitting with her, walking with her. When I was with her, I felt as if I stood in a spotlight for the first time. I felt noticed and accepted. With her, I was found.

Perhaps it was because we trained together so often that we were an unbeatable team. We didn't need to talk or make plans – we'd become an extension of the other. And perhaps, for this reason, we always quested together. I didn't mind. Getting out of camp with just Reyna (and sometimes Dakota) I felt I could breathe again.

Reyna for her part, talked more when she was alone with me. She talked of her home, of her sister, of the places she would visit, where she liked to spend afternoons, the best places to get coffee in San Juan, and swimming in the ocean. One day she told me of Circe's island and the pirates. I was appalled. Hadn't she suffered enough already? I'd wrapped my fingers around her own, covering them like a warm blanket, and she'd squeezed them back, smiling warmly at me, the sorrow tinged with comfort.

It was strange to watch her. With the others, she was a shell – she laughed and talked, but not freely, more obligatory. The others saw her strength and her coolness and thought her indifferent and cold. But she wasn't. She was fire – fierce and alive. Alone with me, her smiles were big, her laughter loud, her talking non-stop. She joked and complained and yelled.

And one day she sang. She did it unconsciously. We were sitting by the docks, our feet dangling into the lake, her eyes closed, me watching her. Her head titled back to the sun, she smiled happily, and she started to sing. It was quiet, more like a hum, not sweet and clear like birdsong, but deep and throaty like the earth. She sang in Spanish, and I was hooked, breathless. I never wanted her to stop.

She opened her eyes and grinned at me. "What a dork," she whispered, nudging me with her toes.

I shook my head at her.

With Reyna, I was at peace, even when we were at war.

With me, Reyna was free.

It happened one night, not long after that. And it felt so natural, so right – it was like breathing out after holding my breath for so long. We sat in the Garden of Bacchus, watching the moonlight filter into the valley painting our world silver. She sat next to me, telling me about the gods know what. I could only think of how close she sat, how familiar her body was next to mine, how good she smelt – like vanilla and cocoa.

She glanced suddenly at me and laughed.

"Wha-?" I said, startled.

"You're not even listening to me!" Her laughter echoed in the garden, mixing with the gurgling of the water fountain, creating its own strange music.

I scratched the back of my head and grinned sheepishly. "Sorry."

Her lips dimmed into a lovely smile. "What were you thinking about?" she murmured, twining her own fingers around mine.

"You." The answer was out of me before I could stop it. I'd expected her to laugh and say how stupid I was, but instead she looked at me, her brown eyes watching me carefully.

"Me too," she murmured. She extracted her fingers from mine and began circling my palm. My heartbeat spiked to about a million beats per minute, my heart launched itself into my throat, and goosebumps erupted all over my skin in a shiver of delight.

"You were thinking about you?" I stammered.

She smiled. "Not as much as I've been thinking about you." She leant closer, her scent of vanilla and cocoa filling up my senses.

She pressed her lips to mine and I dissolved. _She_ was filling me up and I didn't know how to separate myself from her, how I could ever be separate from her. She was me, and I was her, and that was all that mattered.

She was sweet and soft, everything I hadn't expected. She tasted of the French vanillas she liked and the hot chocolate I'd recently gotten her into. She was beautiful in every way.

When she pulled away, it felt as if she had pulled some of my oxygen from my own lungs. I frowned at her, and she drew back quickly. But before she could say anything, I raised her legs, put them on my lap and puller her closer. My hand entangled itself in her hair and I pressed my lips back to hers.

I felt her smile.

For a few weeks we were happy. Not much had changed, at least not to the general public. They were used to seeing us together. But now I could hold her hand, and wrap my arms around her, and press kisses to her head or her cheeks whenever I wanted. I craved her now. Her touch seized me, held me, grounded me. Her fingers, my anchor.

Not long after, we were to go on a quest.

"You will go to Charleston and bring back as much Imperial Gold weapons as you can. The gods know we need all the help we can get," Phillip ordered. He was looking even lankier now, tired and worn out.

We took Skippy. Reyna had achieved the status of Centurion. Me as well, but she was much better at it.

We flew to the harbour. Our plan was simple – fly in, get the weapons, get out. No detours, no pit stops. It was getting riskier for us to venture out of camp.

As we flew across the country, Reyna amused me by trying to teach me Spanish. At which I was horrible and was the reason Reyna couldn't get through a single phrase without laughing.

"Wow! You suck! Remind me never to take you to Puerto Rico," she laughed.

"You'd take me to meet your family? That's really serious!"

I felt her tense around my fingers. "What?" I whispered, close to her ear.

"I don't really have family there anymore," she said, leaning back into me so she didn't have to shout. "Just ghosts and a haunted house."

"I'm sorry," I murmured, kissing her head.

She shrugged. "It's okay." But I could feel in the way she held her shoulders that it wasn't, and so I tightened my arms around her, trying to pour my support and comfort into it. Maybe it worked, because I felt the tension in her muscles loosen slightly.

A few hours later we were in Charleston. It was a complete shit-show – an ambush. A legion of monsters awaited us. Somehow we made it out – I was getting better at controlling and using my powers, Reyna was a menace with any weapon and to any enemy. Finally, we managed to set up camp in a secure place.

"Where do you think the weapons are?" I asked.

She shrugged, dabbing ambrosia onto her cuts and scrapes. "I guess we'll just have to take a look around tomorrow." She yawned and I said, "Sleep. I'll take first watch."

As her breaths evened out, I watched the peace settle in, watched as her muscles unwound, as her shoulders loosened, watched as she became a fourteen year old girl without the horrors she'd had to endure. And then I watched as the nightmares took her, the way her shoulders shook, her knees drew up to her chest. I heard the tremor in her voice as she cried, "Papa!" and that broke my heart. I moved closer to her and pulled her into my arms. She was still asleep, her eyes scrunched tight, but the longer I held her, the less her shoulders shook, the more her eyebrows relaxed, and the easier her breaths were. When she woke, she woke with my arms around her, and pressing her lips to my neck, she murmured, "Sleep." I lay down with my head in her lap, and with her hands stroking my hair, I fell asleep.

The next morning, we packed up camp, and went into the city, looking for signs that indicated a large collection of imperial gold weapons were hidden there. We found nothing, and by lunchtime we were hot, hungry, and very cranky. We lunched in a small diner in silence, too broody to talk. When we finally stepped out of the diner, I finally asked, "What should we do now?"

She wasn't listening to me, but squinting at something across the road from me.

"What?" I asked.

"Have you noticed that that lady has been following us all day?" she asked pointing.

I looked to where she was pointing, and there, gliding under a gazebo, a pale ghostly thing shimmered.

"What is it?" I asked squinting.

"Looks like a woman," Reyna replied.

"Looks like a shining blob to me."

She gave me one of her "Gods, you're so dumb sometimes" look and crossed the street. I ran after her and when I finally caught up I said, "Shouldn't we be walking away from the thing that looks like something from a horror movie?"

"That thing has been following us all day. Maybe… maybe it's waiting for us to talk to it."

I frowned. "You think it can help us find the weapons?"

She shrugged. "I don't know Jason. But we haven't had any luck so far. Don't you think we should check out something like this?"

I looked back at the thing. For some reason, it made me really uncomfortable, like something bad was about to happen. On the other hand, Reyna was right. We hadn't had any leads all day. The least we could do was see what it wanted. I looked at her nodded. "Let's do it."

But apparently the ghost didn't want to talk to us as badly as we thought because every time we got close to it, it vanished and reappeared some distance ahead. "Maybe it's leading us to the weapons," I suggested.

Reyna shook her head. "No, she's been leading us in a circle." She stood and looked at the ghost for a couple of seconds. Finally she turned to me. "Maybe I should talk to her alone."

I frowned at her. "No way. You are not talking to a psycho, game-playing ghost by yourself."

She frowned in the direction of the ghost. "I don't know Jason. I just have this feeling that she doesn't want to talk to you. Just me."

"And why would that be?"

She shrugged. "Maybe she wants a woman-to-woman conversation." Then she started towards the ghost before I could say anything else.

I decided to trust her – which looking back now, I wish I hadn't done – so I sat down underneath a tree and watched Reyna approach the ghost. She was right, without me, the ghost met her halfway – still far away enough that I couldn't hear what they were saying.

They talked for a while, and finally the ghost flew away. Yet, Reyna didn't turn around and walk back to me. She stood rooted to the spot watching the ghost float away from her, her face hidden from me. I stood up and walked towards her. Reaching out, I grabbed her shoulder.

"Hey!"

She twisted away from her, yanking her shoulder away from under her grip, her face contorted with anger. I frowned at her.

"What? What did the ghost tell you?" I made to take her shoulders again, but she stepped back out of my reach.

"I know where the weapons are." She stepped past me heading towards the harbour. I followed, confused.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." her voice was clipped, sharp. Just as it had been those first few weeks I'd known her. Not the way it should've been with me.

I grabbed her elbow and twisted her to face me. "Reyna, what's going – Get down!"

A bronze knife came flying at us out of nowhere. The monsters were closing in again. This time accompanied by some demigods, and some big dudes carrying AK-47s.

"Let's just get the weapons and get out of here."

We ran for the Battery heading straight for Fort Sumter. We found the weapons, we made it out alive, and we were on our way back to camp alright.

But something had changed in Reyna. She was distant again, the tension and indifference that wasn't supposed to be there with me filled the space between us. I held on to her on our way back, but no matter how tightly I wrapped my arms around her, I couldn't stop her slipping through them. I could feel the walls going up around her and no matter how desperately I tore at the bricks, I couldn't stop the construction. "Reyna," I whispered, "Please don't go." It made no difference.

I didn't think it could possibly get any worse, that was, until we got home. It was so quiet like a thick blanket lay over the valley. As we drew closer, we realized it was because nobody was making a sound. Shock and grief surrounded the valley like a thick fog. And then out of the darkness, a flame erupted, right in the middle of camp. My heart throbbed, fear clawing at my throat. Had the titans invaded? No, they couldn't have. They'd have ripped the camp apart. It'd be noisy and bloody with the pomp of their celebrations.

Reyna must have noticed something before I did, because she gasped, "No!" Leaning low on Skippy's back, she led him into a nose-dive, landing just at the back of the crowd. They were gathered around a large bonfire.

We pushed our way through the crowd. Not a bonfire, a pyre. Ten pyres.

"No," Reyna cried. In the middle, the flames licking the wood around his body, lay Phillip, eyes closed. She stepped closer to his body. He was her mentor and the two had been close. I think Phillip had wanted her as his successor. I reached towards her, but a few people stepped between us.

"You must take his place," a girl was saying.

She shook her head. "No." But no one was listening. All around the voices raised in whispers. "Praetor Ramirez." No one saw the way her shoulders slumped forward. No one noticed the grief and fear settling in.


	8. Chapter 8

This is how the story went,

I meant someone by accident,

Who blew me away,

Blew me away.

And it was in the darkest of my days,

When you took my sorrow and you took my pain,

Buried them away,

Buried them away.

I wish I could lay down beside you,

When the day is done.

And wake up to your face against the morning sun.

But like everything I've ever known,

You'll disappear one day,

So I'll spend my whole life hiding,

My heart away.

\- Adele, _Hiding My Heart_

I had forgotten what it was like to be without her. Before she'd come, I hadn't missed anything. I'd never felt her presence, never heard her laugh, never tasted her. But now I had and it was distressing being away from her. I constantly reached towards her, only to find her further away. She slipped away from me, like a shadow flitting ahead or behind, never substantive enough to hold.

She grew silent and sullen. Most people would have disagreed with me.

"Relax Jason," Dakota said, exasperatedly, one day. "She's got a lot going on. She's preparing us for war."

But I didn't agree. I felt like she was avoiding me. So one day, I cornered her.

"Afternoon, Praetor." She didn't look up from the row of weapons she was studying, but I saw her bite her lip and the way her shoulders tightened.

"Jason."

I took a deep breath and took the plunge. "You've been avoiding me."

"Have I?" She was deliberately keeping her voice carefully casual. "I hadn't realized."

"Well it certainly feels that way. It feels like I need to make an appointment to see my girlfriend."

That got her attention. Her head snapped up, eyes cold. "What did you call me?"

"My _girlfriend_." I drawled the word out emphasising it.

Her nostrils flared. "I see," she replied quietly. "I hadn't realized we'd given it a name."

I straightened up and stepped closer to her. I was finally at eye level with her. I made my voice as even as hers. "Then what did you think we were? After all those afternoons together, alone."

She looked away, swallowed and crossed her arms. "Jason, it's not a good time."

"No!" I shouted. "No, you don't get to tell me it's not a good time." She flinched and stepped back. I grabbed her hand, trying to tug her back towards me. "What's going on with you? You haven't been the same since Charleston."

"Please, just leave it alone," she said, in that same quiet voice. "Some things we just can't fight."

"What the hell are you talking about?" She pulled her hand away and started walking away. "Reyna!" I yelled after her, running to catch up.

She turned back to me, her face steel. "You know this would never work," she hissed.

"Why would I know that? That's not something I thought at all."

"Because."

"Because what Reyna?!"

"Because! Because you're you and I'm me!"

"What does that even me."

"Nothing!"

"It means something. What the hell are you talking about?"

"You've got a great life ahead of you and you'll find someone who'll bring so much peace and happiness into it," she said, gesturing and pacing wildly. "And I'm me. Things don't last around me. They just… they always break."

"Reyna." I took her shoulders in my hands, forcing her to standstill. "That's bullshit."

She looked at me, her brown eyes now a tortured black. "You know what I've done," she whispered.

"That's in the past. I also know what you've done since. We made you Praetor for a reason."

She looked at me for a long while, studying. Finally, she took a deep breath, straightened, and pulled my hands from her shoulders. "Thanks you Jason. For everything you've done for me and everything you're still trying to do. But it's just not a good time. I need to focus on getting everyone through this war. I can't have you distracting me." She wouldn't look at me and I knew she was hiding something from me.

"Reyna-"

"That's enough," she snapped. "It's over. Whatever fling we had, it's over." Her voice was cold, final, no room for argument. It felt like a whip.

I flinched and stepped back. Maybe I should have argued more, maybe I should have held onto her, made her tell me what was wrong, what I could do to fix it. But my pride was wounded and I didn't have it in me just then to assuage her guilt. So I let her go.

Reyna was an excellent Praetor. We couldn't have chosen a better leader for this war. She sent scouting missions out often and the information they gathered was invaluable. She used this intel to form strategic plans and organized us into guerrilla battle units. The real battle was still looming but in the meantime Reyna had us try and destabilize the Titans any way we could. It seemed that she and Marissa were an unbeatable team, but then one day that hope was shattered.

Reyna and Marissa were leading a couple of scouts up Mount Orthrys to gather intel on the Titan's new recruits. It was a simple plan – infiltrate the ranks of rogue demigods, mill about, find out what we could about their numbers and their supply routes, then head back to Camp Jupiter. We had a maximum of seventy-two hours.

It started out well enough. We made our way into the enemy encampments easily. Too easily, it turned out. It was an ambush. We had been betrayed – Ilias, son of Morpheus, had allied himself with the Titans and had been playing spy in Camp Jupiter. They knew we were coming and it was the perfect opportunity to take out the Camp's leaders and their 'golden boy'. They hadn't plan to waste this opportunity.

The fight was bloody – so many legionnaires dead. There was just a handful of us left.

"Go!" Reyna turned and yelled at them. She turned to me. "Go! Give them cover and get out of here!"

"I'm not leaving you behind," I said simply. But I whipped up a fog around the others and told them to run. "Get back to camp as quick as you can." Gwen opened her mouth to protest but I cut her off. "We'll meet you back there, don't worry." She hesitated for a moment, then nodded, pressed a kiss to my cheek and ran off. Dakota nodded at me, said, "I'm not kissing you, but do come back," and took off behind her. Once the fog had receded far enough away, I turned to Reyna and Marissa.

Without speaking, we pressed our backs together in a circle. Suddenly I felt a surge of new strength and resilience wash over me and I looked over at Reyna. Her knees were bent in her fighter's stance and her jaw was set. Well if I was going out, then going out fighting beside her wouldn't be the worse way to go.

The monsters closed in. I summoned lightning and bent the winds to my will. Reyna fought like a demon assassin, arcing over and around the monsters. Marissa's spear stuck true each time. But it wasn't enough. Our backs were to the cliff's edge, the ground a million miles away. Marissa looked over to us. Her eyes met mine. She nodded and I understood what she wanted. Without preamble, she pushed me and Reyna off the cliff. I grabbed Reyna and tucked her into my arms, willing the winds to help our fall. But it was hard. Reyna was fighting me.

"No, no, no, no, no, no! LET ME GO!" she screamed. So I did. I let go, and bent the winds around her. When I touched down next to her, she was trying to scramble back up the cliff.

She let go when a terrible, screeching scream reached us.

"NO!" Her fingers clawed at the loose rocks of the cliff face, trying to pull herself up. I grabbed her and held her tight against me. She twisted in my arms, punching me, kicking me, and when that didn't work, biting me. When I still didn't let go of her, she collapsed against me, her body shaking, silent tears soaking into my t-shirt. My own face was wet.

We didn't say anything on our way back but we didn't let go of each other. What had happened had been a rude, shocking, awakening. War was here and it was going to unravel us.

The camp was so quiet. Grief wrapped itself around us, a thick heavy, suffocating blanket. To speak took too much effort, to cry left us hollow.

Emergency elections were held. Surprise! I was praetor. It should have been a great honour. I should have seen it coming. But as I sat on the steps of my new villa, the small box of my things I'd emptied from the barracks sitting next to me, I couldn't help but feel that this was just another thing isolating me from everyone I loved. Now I was a praetor, I wasn't just a legionnaire, everyone would look at me differently. The only person who wouldn't, well, she didn't even look at me anymore, so it wouldn't matter.

I sat on those steps and watched Reyna bustle around in front of the Praetor's steps. She worked harder now than ever. She spoke little, ate quickly, and rushed around doing everything. Making sure we had enough weapons and equipment, making sure the pegasii and horses were groomed and trained, organizing training activities, making new battle plans, and quietly trying to root out more spies. Her mouth seemed permanently set into a tight line, her brows permanently furrowed. Her eyes had dark bruises underneath and her cheeks seemed hollow. But her uniform was perfectly neat, her armour shone, her hair was combed into a sleek braid. _She's hiding_ , I thought tiredly, _she's hiding behind all that armour_. _Good_ , I thought, viciously. _Let no one see her_.

I picked up the box and stepped into the villa. It was empty and yet it felt like Marissa was still standing somewhere in here, waiting to jump out at me from any corner. I took my shoes off and walked cautiously deeper into the villa, my socks silent on the floor. I felt like a trespasser, a squatter living in someone else's home.

"It's eerie, isn't it?" Her voice was quiet and yet it felt too loud in this house. I cringed. Putting the box down, I turned around to see her standing in the doorway.

"Welcome to my new home," I said stretching my arms out and trying to grin. The grin felt like torture as if my muscles had forgotten how to smile.

Reyna sighed and stepped into the house. She noticed my shoes at the door and slipped off her own. She walked over to me and glanced down at my box of things. Then she walked around the living room, walking into every corner. "Feels like a ghost is in here, huh?"

I nodded. She came back over to me and took my hand. She led me around the house, into every corner as she'd done before. Finally, she picked up my box and pushed it into my arms. Then she led me into the bedroom. I glanced at the bed and then glanced at Reyna and suddenly I was blushing. She noticed and rolled her eyes.

"Really?"

"I didn't say anything."

"I can tell what you're thinking, it's all over your face Grace."

I shrugged. "Sorry."

I put the box down on top of the dresser and sat down on the bed. She leaned against the dresser and looked down at me. Finally, I stretched my hand out to her, and surprisingly, she stepped towards me. I drew her closer wrapping my arms around her and pressed a kiss to her stomach. Her fingers toyed in my hair and then she was leaning down and I was raising my chin and all of a sudden we were kissing again.

And it was bliss. Hungry and deep and thoughtless. And I was pulling her onto my lap and her fingers were tightening in my hair and she was the only thing that felt real. That felt imminent and the only thing that lay before me. She was the only thing I wanted. My fingers edged under her t-shirt. Her skin was warm and soft. I pressed my hand against her back trying to press her closer to me, not sure where this was going, but wanting to find out.

And then just as suddenly she pulled away, pulling herself to her feet. Her chest was heaving, her lips swollen, her eyes wide with shock and something else. Something like terror? She backed out of the room before I could say anything and I heard the door slam shut as I got, shakily to my feet.

I huffed and flopped down onto the bed, my skin hot and my breath still shallow.


End file.
